On August 10th, 1995, David DeConinck passed away suddenly. He was the bookkeeper for The Mike Love Fan Club as well as the staff photographer but, most importantly, he was my father.

His influence and involvement with this fan club was so great that I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to him.

In 1986, I was inspired to start a fan club for Mike Love. My plan was to produce a newsletter and all the money that was raised by it be donated to charity, all with the approval of Mike Love. Approval, however, was hard to come by as I spent three years corresponding with lawyers and the old Love Foundation hoping for a response from or a meeting with Mike himself.

By 1989, I had almost given up. I was getting nowhere fast and soon the fan club was just a pipe dream. That fall, Mike began his Project Teach receptions backstage at selected Beach Boys concerts. When my father saw there was going to be a private reception for Texaco employees only at the Philadelphia Spectrum, he became determined to get me there. He made several phone calls to California pleading my case and pitching my fan club idea. When I asked him why he was doing all this, he replied, "Don't you want to meet Mike Love?" It was at that moment that I knew that he understood what no one else could - just how important this was to me.
Before I knew it, me and my parents were on the shuttle from Boston to Philadelphia and the rest is history. Mike approved the fan club and it officially began in January of 1990.

But my father's involvement did not end there. He knew that running this fan club was going to be time consuming and the fact that I work a full-time job would make time constraints even tighter. So he took on as many tasks as he could. He kept the fan club bank account in order, ran errands at the printers, had the 8x10 photos produced, and placed orders for hats, buttons and watches. He made sure my backstage passes were always arranged for every concert and he was always there if I had something large to take to the post office.

Backstage at The Beach Boys' concerts, my father always looked out for me. He'd take as many photos as possible for the newsletter and my personal collection. He was never shy and he enjoyed talking to Mike and the guys. He was always a fan of The Beach Boys and their music. Once, when I attended a concert without him, the first thing Mike said to me was "Where's your father?" My father left that kind of an impression on people. Once you met him, you never forgot him.

But the fan club was a small part of the things he did for me. I could write ten books about the ways in which he helped me in my life. He would think of nothing of going that extra mile for me and I for him. From holding my hand while crossing the street to walking me down the aisle at my wedding, he was always there for me. There will never be another father/daughter relationship quite like ours.

The Mike Love Fan Club honors the memory of David DeConinck for being a wonderful father, a fantastic supporter and a driving force behind this fan club. He will be missed but he will always be remembered.