Got a call this morning from a gal named 'Mo. My buddy Mark's live-in GF for the past 12 years. "Mark suffered a massive heart attack last night. He was working on one of his Harleys with a bad indicator and called up to me to please bring him down a Phillips head driver to the parking lot. 2 minutes later a neighbor started screaming something about an emergency and to call 911. I went down and he was on his back, not breathing, fists clenched, eyes rolled back in his head, no pulse. I tried CPR and everything and the ambulance got there soon after but I knew he was gone. My life just died with my Mark out there in the parking lot. They're gonna' take anything they can use (organ donor) and then let me know. WTF do I do NOW?" Hard phone call.

Driftwood/Mark was good friend despite his being an ex-biker, hooligan, long-time bad boy who finally found his way. When Mrs KG and I moved into suburban/rural NS MA about 20 years ago, he became my first local friend. The very first weekend after moving into Amesbury we went into a local dive bar. Not ten minutes after taking a couple of bar stools some redneck POS remarked that my wife and I were 'no good subhuman gooks' and that he wouldn't stand for us being in 'his' bar. The first thing that hit him after I flattened him with a straight right hand was Drifty's longneck across this guy's forehead as he tried to rise.

'I always hated this MF'er, he said. The name's Mark D, AKA Drifty, and I'm embarrassed to have witnessed that punk disrespecting you and your old lady just now...I know you ain't from around here but you got balls and a wicked right hand! You new in town, I see" He then laughed and asked, "What's your name, brother, and where ya from?" We became fast friends after that.

Mark was a rough character, but a loyal SOB, and as we got to know each other, and he proved himself to be a solid, repentant former outlaw/biker/sinner. He spent almost 20 of his 62 years in the joint. Hard, hard childhood. Yet despite his horrific upbringing and abuse as a child, after some hard years and very bad choices learned that doing the right things, even if the hard things, are best. I'll miss him a great deal. RIP, brother. You were a good man and an old school North Shore badass. Godspeed.

kamo gari;
Good evening Leighton, sorry to read of the passing of your friend.

He sounds like quite a character and your remembrances of him paid a fine tribute.

My condolences as well as my thoughts and prayers to those left behind.

Dwayne

Sorry for your loss man.

Sorry to hear about your friend, sounds like he did a lot living.

RIP Driftwood…

Sounds like a swell guy.

Good friends are hard to come by, and even harder to lose. I can count my real friends on the fingers of one hand, with a couple left over for ones I haven't met yet.

Good looking bike- - - -If it was Crimson Sunglow color it would look a lot like my "Emotional Support Hog" 97 Soft Tail.

Moving tribute only a real friend could express. Thanks for letting us know about him. Wish we could take a piece of the loss from your heart.

Mark was the eldest of 9 kids from a broken home and the frequent target of a vicious, drunken, abusive, rapist father. Old man left with some whore one night and was killed in a DUI wreck. Mark dropped out of school in the 8th grade to work to support and feed his mother and 8 younger siblings, and did what he felt he had to do to survive. You're welcome to judge away, but the man had a good soul and was loyal to a fault and helped me a great deal over the years in lots of ways.

Perhaps you've never had a friend do for you just because you were his friend, and even was willing to put his ass on the line for you, just because you and he were friends, and believed in the 'in for a penny, in for a pound' type relationship. I care not how you grew up, but if you disrespected my boy like that in my presence, you'd be having to knuckle up, son.

Sorry to hear.

Glad he got his shìt together.

Moral ain’t always legal. RIP

Judge people by their behavior, not their past.

Sounds like a good man. RIP Driftwood.

Sorry to hear about your friend.

Tough duty watching our friends go. Sincere condolences.

Bearing witness to another's life is a sign of honor and respect.

Sorry for your loss KG.

Thanks for the words, gents. It was always comical when he and I used to gas up and go cruising. Him on one of his many 'scooters', as he called them. We were like the Odd Couple. Him on FXLTs, Soft tails, Fat Boys, Hardtails, Shovelheads, Panheads, Knuckleheads, you name it. Me on GpZ1000s, 750 Interceptors, KZ1000s, FJ1200s, GSX-1000Rs, CB 750s, RDs, GS's and more. I never lost a race with him but he always finished laughing his nuts off and wondering where the next watering hole was...

Sorry for your lost Brother, RIP Drift

RIP good sir

Nice tribute to a good man. Sorry for your loss.

Think I got to meet him once when he stopped by your Pad, Sorry you lost him, brother, love you, and hang in there.

Sorry for the loss of your friend.

If I could chose my exit I'd think the way he left would not be a bad one.

Sorry you lost your pal Kamo, my condolences to you and your wife.

A man that changes his ways is a man to be admired.

Very sorry for MO.

Hope she gets through it okay.

Good friends are hard to come by.

Sorry yours is gone.

Condolences, L. I hope his lady can find some peace.

RIP Driftwood, good friends are hard to come by.

A man is very fortunate to have a solid friend that will put his loyalty to you ahead of his self. Sound like he was one of those. Sorry for your loss and for Mo.

I have no doubt that you will tribute your friend by stand up for Mo. My condolences.

A loyal friend is priceless. Very sorry for your loss and heartfelt condolences to his family.

Sorry for your loss Kami.

I'd bet the farm Driftwood had the same kind of friend, in you.

And his wife will have you to look out for her.

Very sorry for the loss of your friend.

That is tough duty, KG! I pray your friend found an eternal respite! Hang tough, dude!

Hard times.

Sorry to hear of this.

Sorry to here this KG he sounds like a true friend and I'm sorry for your loss.

Back in the days I was riding a Yamaha 920cc v-twin. A friend had an ‘84 Honda CBX 1000, the beautiful pearl white edition, six-cylinder transverse air-cooled inline.

Most every red-light became a dragstrip. It’d turn green and I would torque ahead with that twin, but then his six hamsters would get up to speed and that was all she wrote.


That beautiful CBX met a sad demise, my buddy was doing a Mad Max-style burnout in front of the bar one night when somehow he let up off the front brake too soon, the bike shot ahead, right into the back end of a parked pickup. It was sort of tragicomic.

Times change, the guy rides a nice Harley now, most of the rest of us no longer ride.

I’m glad your friend was able to overcome the demons. A good man gone, sorry for your loss.

Sorry for the loss of your friend. RIP

You did meet him. Twice, actually, I think. Thanks for the kind words, gentlemen. He was one in a million, that's certain. Like us all, he had his faults but was a solid dude and one of the most loyal and trustworthy of friends I've ever had. He could spin a yarn like no one's business, too, told with a wide grin in his ridiculously thick Boston accent.

A couple of my favorites: one involved him jumping out a 3rd story courthouse window while in custody and about to face a judge. He took off running like a hare with COs in hot pursuit. He got away and with nothing but lint in his pockets decided to get the hell out of Dodge. Wound up down in Florida after hitching rides, jumping trains and walking. At some point some months later, having been stopped while on a HD by a nasty, obese female cop, he's asked for his license. Astride his scooter (not his), he laughed heartily and said, 'license? Lady, I'm an outlaw and I ain't got no license and I bet you a week's pay you can't catch me!' He then sped off. There was no pursuit. This was in the late 70s.

Another time, while in a local lockup, he used a borrowed dime to unscrew the vent plate on the back wall of the bullpen next to the toilet. The cell was full of drunks and other losers at the time. The vent was 12"X12" or so, but Drifty managed to squeeze himself through the opening in his escape attempt. Until he got to his hips. He got stuck in the opening. Badly stuck. With the peanut gallery reduced to tears laughing and before he could manage to get through the hole forward or backward, a deputy or whatever walked by and saw Drifty's lower half hanging out of the wall and the rest of the gang all a-giggle like a bunch of school boys at recess. That screw and a couple of his buddies tried using brute force, then water, then vaseline and eventually a pound of BUTTER spread on him to lube him up enough so as to rip him out of that hole. 'What goes in, must come out!' was what Drifty said the bossman kept yelling, as they yanked on his legs.

The man could remove and break down a HD motor in a few hours and put it back together blindfolded with some simple tools. Every major snowstorm, mostly in the middle of the night, he'd be at my place plowing us out. I never asked him to. Make no mistake, we took good care of Mark, but he did us right back, every time.

May you rest in peace, old friend. I'll maybe see you on the other side some day.

🙏🙏🙏

You lost something priceless that a lot of us will never know our whole life. I'm very sorry for your loss. Sending positive energy.

Last visit with my bud yesterday. Good crowd as far as attendance. Wife and I were the odd folks out in more ways than one, and we were the only ones dressed for what I would consider proper attire for a funeral, but all good. It was kind of like a WT bad boy biker convention, with many telling tales of Dupa's innumerable wildman exploits from back in the day, some hushed with women present. Local sheriffs probably could've hit the jackpot staking the funeral home out. , but the turnout was a testament to the man. He was loved and had many friends, including me. Keep on driftin', brother.

Mark Alan Dupuis
February 19, 1960 - June 24, 2022


Hampton - Mark Alan Dupuis, 62, of Hampton, NH, passed unexpectedly at Parkland Medical Center on Friday evening, June 24, 2022. He was the beloved companion of Merrillee "Mo" Arsenault for 12 years.

Born in Ipswich, MA, on February 19, 1960, he was one of eight children of the late Donald J. Dupuis and the late Sandra A. (Fernald) Aucoin, and was a graduate of Whittier Vocational Technical School in Haverhill.

Mark ran his own business, East Coast Handyman Services. He was the go-to man who could fix anything. There was no job too big or too small for Mark. He had many talents, but his passion was motorcycles. Mark enjoyed spending his time building, collecting and riding motorcycles.

In addition to his longtime companion, Merrillee, he is also survived by his daughter, Marcie Warren; his sisters, Carrie, Jackie, Donna, Cindy, and Sandy; his sister-in-law, Lisa Dupuis; his brother, Robert; many nieces and nephews including, Justin Irvin and Stacey Forgione and husband Jeff; a few great-nephews, including Ryan and Vandel Forgione who were his pride and joy; his grandchildren; along with extended family and many, many dear friends. He was truly saddened at the passing of his brother, John Dupuis. Along with his parents and his brother John, Mark was also predeceased by his sister, Angie.
Mark was a man with a big heart, he touched so many lives over the years. He will be remembered forever and will always continue to be loved by everyone who knew him.

Visiting hours will be held Thursday, June 30, 2022, from 4 to 8 p.m., at the Highland Chapel of Paul C. Rogers Family Funeral Home, 2 Hillside Avenue, Amesbury, MA.

I'm sorry to hear of your loss KG. It was great to hear your story of how he turned his life around.

Leighton,

I'm very sorry to hear of your loss. You and Mo have my deepest condolences.

Ed