
Text by Tony Ward, Copyright 2025
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The Passing of a Friend
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My first recollection of Bryan Abrams was seeing him in a Philadelphia 76ers television advertisement in the 1980’s. He was the guy that sat at court side during enumerable games cheering on his hometown team, even though he was actually from Delaware. The colorful costumes that he wore exclusively were designed by none other than Gianni Versace. The multi colored silk shirts lit up the television screen and promoted the excitement of being at a 76ers game with their most illustrious fan. Bryan was the type of person you couldn’t forget about once you met him.
It wasn’t until around 1993 that I first met Bryan in person at the Stripped Bass on Walnut street in Philadelphia. We were introduced by one of my models at the time, Paulette Fallon who was friends with a colorful character that she wanted me to meet. He knew about my work through the pictures he saw of Paulette that I shot for Penthouse Magazine amongst others. Over time we would then see each other at various Philadelphia parties and events, eventually leading to a long term friendship mainly by phone and social media. Bryan was amazing at communicating with people he associated with on social media and so our friendship continued to evolve in a positive way over time. He never had a bad thing to say about anybody and he always was upbeat and enjoyed our conversations that ranged from fashion to politics. He was a political science major in college and was very active in democratic politics. Here is an article he wrote for this blog at the start of the war in Gaza: https://tonyward.com/bryan-abrams-47000-9-11s/
One of the highlights of our friendship was the time in which I invited him to speak to my Photography and Fashion class at the University of Pennsylvania. He loved meeting with the students and teaching them about his knowledge of fashion merchandising. He was always encouraging and loved to be photographed by students during the class.
In recent years Bryan started to talk to me more about his health problems, his chronic asthma and his heart issues. He took extreme care of himself, keeping in touch with his doctors and refraining from alcohol and substance use. Despite all of that his overall health started to worsen with more frequent trips to the emergency room. I was concerned but nothing prepared me for the shock of hearing he passed suddenly of a heart attack on May 20th while tending to his yard. He was 72. The only solace I find in his passing is that he died quickly. The shock of his death remains but the memories of Bryan Abrams will always fill me with joy.