He died as he lived, in a blaze of glory, riding his motorcycle on an unseasonably warm Las Vegas night.
Some knew him as Michael, some as Wolfgang, but everyone knew him as an uncompromising artist of great passion and detail, always changing and growing. His life was defined by this passion; for creativity, conversation, for beautiful women and stunning scenery. Wolfgang's muse was found in everything around him.
In the decades he spent here in the Wood River Valley, he produced many lyrical and powerful pieces of work representative of his complex filter of our shared world. It is with great sadness that his body of work is now closed, but it is joy to have been a part of a life so completely lived.
I invite everyone who knew and loved Wolfgang to imagine bringing a piece of his ardency into your own life, bringing its energy to your own projects and life's work, complete with his uncompromising insistence on expressing your unique perspectives.
Wolfgang leaves two lovely daughters, Nicola Frederick and Arwen Golden, both artists, and many nieces and nephews, for whom he was their beloved uncle. His sisters are Heidi Golden Donohoe, Christine Findley and Patricia Krause and his brother, Ritch Golden. Certainly not least, he leaves the love of his life, his wife, Suzanne Glynn, who held him too shortly and must now sort her life without him.
Wolfgang gave us all inspiration to be ourselves, to stay curious and to never take our foot off the pedal. I imagine him sliding sideways into heaven, with smoke floating from his clothes, with one word (I know, uncharacteristic): "Wow!"
