Christian Amadeus Taylor found spontaneity in the ordinary. He will be remembered by his friends and family as a person who was brimming with excitement and love for those around him.
Drawn to science in high school, Christian Taylor, a biochemistry junior, hoped to pursue a career in the sciences.
“He wanted to help people,” said Kevin Taylor, Christian Taylor’s father. “He wanted to help the world — he wanted to make the world a better place through his work. He wanted to be involved in research, whether it was new medications or the cure for cancer — something.”
But Christian Taylor also had a penchant for theatrical presentation. In middle school he was involved in community theatre and in high school he participated in one-act plays.
Kevin Taylor said his son had a way of “scripting the funny,” and that his creative passions combined with his love for science would have served him well in a career.
“I mean the kid — he made me laugh like nobody else in the world,” Kevin Taylor said. “I could have seen him — when he was in high school and we would talk about, ‘Don’t you want to do the biology thing? Maybe you want to study drama or want to study film.’ Because I could see him as a writer for Saturday Night Live. I could just see him doing something like that.”
In spring 2014, Christian Taylor began attending Mic Check, where he read and performed original poetry. He was also a poetry screener for The Eckleburg Project as well as a member of Student Bonfire.
Davis Land, telecommunication media studies sophomore and roommate of Christian Taylor, described him as a “big bumbling ball of hilarity.”
“I think one of my favorite stories of Christian was when I was with him one time and was complaining to him that I couldn’t find a roommate for the summer and immediately he told me that he would be my roommate,” Land said, “But I didn’t ask, he was just like, ‘Okay, we’re roommates now.’ And it was just really funny.”
Christian Taylor was interested in making his writing authentic, Land said, and that described him in a bigger sense.
“I think that was just what I learned from him — to do the things you want to do and to say the things you want to say without hesitation,” Land said.
Veronica Brady, who lives in Cypress and makes weekly trips to attend Mic Check, said she first met Christian Taylor in high school. He was vocal about what he felt and his excitement was “catching,” Brady said.
“It was funny because at Mic Check if someone is reading a poem you are really vocal and you respond to the person reading with snaps or claps and say, ‘Yeah,’” Brady said. “But Christian would do that during conversations. Like I would say something to him and he would say, ‘Mmm…’ And I would say, ‘What are you doing?’ And he would say, ‘I just like your words.’”
Christian Taylor was a person who was invested in the relationships he made.
“There were so many of his friends that came to us either from high school or from A&M and came to us and said, ‘Oh, Christian was my best friend,’” Kevin Taylor said. “I don’t know how many times I heard that — he had a way of making people feel like they were the most important person and I think that’s a great thing. When he was there for people, he was really there. He was present for them.”
His middle name, “Amadeus,” was derived from Latin, and makes reference to “God’s love.” It is also the middle name of famed composer Wolfgang Mozart, which later became the subject of a film in 1984.
Kevin Taylor said Christian Taylor’s name speaks to who he truly was.
“Christian obviously means a follower of Christ and Amadeus means he was loved by God,” Kevin Taylor said. “So really his name means, ‘Christian was loved by God.’”