I am Kurt's brother-in-law, and I am Japanese, so this story has been roughly translated into English for me:
In 2006, when I was in LA with my wife who is Atsuko's sister, Kurt would drive us as if he was a young man. Especially when he drove on the freeway he would go extremely fast, and move left and right very smoothly as if he was one of those Water Strider bugs.
I come from Japan, and the road conditions and customs are very different, but Kurt's face stayed so peaceful and calm as if there was nothing wrong. But, I felt like I would not ever make it back home to Sapporo alive. That was one of my clearest memories of Kurt. I kept trying to hit the brakes on the car, but I was in the passenger seat.
That aside, he was always very kind, and would drive us through LA, and take us up to Santa Barbara, where we would celebrate Thanksgiving dinners together.
And so I say... "Thank you Kurt!"
Fumio Hishi
Sapporo, Japan