An unlikely duet

In 2007, Steve Lopez stumbled upon an intense violin practice session on a street corner in downtown Los Angeles.

Lopez, a columnist for the Los Angeles Times and author of The Soloist – a book based on his friendship with a homeless LA musician, and the inspiration of the 2008 movie The Soloist – spoke as the third speaker in UB's 23rd Distinguished Speaker Series.

Lopez detailed his meeting and subsequent friendship with Nathaniel Ayers, a former Julliard School student stricken by paranoid schizophrenia and left homeless on the streets of LA.

Lopez approached Ayers, who was startled and suspicious of him, and asked him why he'd chosen to play in that particular spot.

'He said, ‘There's a Beethoven statue. I play here for inspiration,' Lopez said. 'I don't know how many times I'd walked past it.'

The statue was the remnant of a concert hall that used to stand in the park's place.

'It had moved decades ago, but Beethoven had stayed behind,' Lopez said.

Ayers's mission was simple.

'He said, ‘I played pretty well once. It was a long time ago and I'm just trying to get back on track,' Lopez said.

Lopez began visiting Ayers frequently in search of a compelling column. As he discovered more about Ayers's past, he eventually became a prime player in Ayers's mission, and the mission of the thousands of others society had forgotten.

Lopez learned that Ayers, originally from Cleveland, Ohio, had been a promising Julliard student with a full scholarship until 1972 when, during his third year, after a months-long crescendo of anxiety and hallucinations, paranoid schizophrenia took a complete hold on his life.

After treatment involving shock therapy and medications that stripped him of his creativity, and the death of his mother, Ayers found himself in LA.

'He wandered the streets, scared and alone,' Lopez said. 'Then one day in downtown LA, meets the man who saves his life – Beethoven.'

Seeing the way Ayers lived on Skid Row and how he meticulously organized his shopping cart – because he could not organize his mind – gave Lopez insight into Ayers's refusal of medication.

'I didn't understand the psychological barriers,' Lopez said. 'He was more comfortable when he wasn't mingling with people … He didn't want to return to the world where he had snapped.'

But Ayers's spirit was as unyielding as his denial to seek treatment.

'He walks to the edge of the curb and, in a perfect Shakespearean accent, recites the Hamlet soliloquy. He's now talking to me about literature and helping me understand classical music and I'm looking at these people and wondering what their stories are,' Lopez said. 'He said, ‘I hope the whole world rests well tonight,' and I have not rested well since. How could we allow this? How could this exist?'

Lopez considered giving up his career in journalism to become a mental health aid to help Ayers and others like him. Many encouraged him to stay with journalism and continue to bring awareness to the cause through his writing.

'I'd like to think a little progress has been made … that I've helped people open their hearts and minds, and be less forgiving of public policy failures,' Lopez said. 'We've got a long way to go, but that doesn't mean I give up the fight or stop advocating. I'd like to think people got the right message from the book or the movie.'

Ultimately, it was Ayers himself who was most influential in Lopez's decision to continue writing.

'What Nathaniel did with this story was remind me that I had my own passion and I should hold onto it and do it as long as I could,' he said.

Ayers currently lives in an apartment in LA acquired for him through mental health services. He has a music studio nearby holding his 15 instruments. He wants to play in a community orchestra and work in music therapy, Lopez said.

'He's progressed tremendously in terms of socializing. I'd like to see him at least someday consider the meds,' Lopez said. 'We're trying to get Mr. Ayers to the point where he decides to try these things … [but] I'm not his doctor, I'm his friend.'

Ayers plays mostly in his studio, but continues to play on the streets of Los Angeles, often near Beethoven.

'He plays all over the place, all the time, and he can't get enough,' Lopez said.

Lopez said Ayers frequently encourages him to write two sequels to The Soloist. He thinks two more movies should accompany the 2008 film, with the first sequel called The Soloist: A Diamond in the Rough, Lopez said. Ayers is composing a soundtrack.

Ayers appreciates the public's support and eagerness to hear his story, Lopez said.

'He is aware the story isn't just about him … that it's about the thousands like him,' Lopez said. 'If he was here tonight he'd be playing selections from Diamond in the Rough.'

Lopez's friendship has helped Ayers along on his mission to 'get back on track,' but Lopez said that he felt lucky to meet Ayers.

'There has never been a moment of regret or self-pity, he celebrates the music … He wakes up and the world is a disorienting place, but the music saves him,' Lopez said. 'He knows true passion.'

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