Daniel "Danny" Barken, 40, sign-language interpreter had ‘mad skills'

By Michelle E. Shaw

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Danny Barken’s life was hardly conventional, but he made sure it was meaningful. His success in reversing his life helped him overcome substance abuse and led to his later becoming a role model for adults and kids alike.

“Just the other day one of our bartenders told me, ‘Danny is the guy we all want to be,’ and that pretty much sums it up,” said Margaret Sagarin, wife of Josh Sagarin, who is co-owner of the Front Page News bar-restaurant in Little Five Points. “There are so many people who don’t get a chance to redirect their lives, but Danny did.”

Daniel Barken, known by all as Danny, died Sunday from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident. He was 40. His body has been cremated and a memorial service is planned for 3-5 p.m. on Thursday at Front Page News on Moreland Avenue. Fischer Funeral Care is in charge of arrangements.

At the time of his death, Mr. Barken was a sign-language interpreter for a private company and worked at Atlanta's Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School. He’d been there four years, said assistant principal Barbara Shea. Staff and students loved him and not just those who were hearing-impaired.

“He was such a presence in the building,” she said. “He always saw the upside of things. He always did more and he always wanted more for the kids.”

One of his projects was trying to convince the Georgia Aquarium to add a hearing-impaired day during the week, not just on weekends, so school kids could visit as a group, she said.

“Our goal, before the year is over, is to get those babies to the aquarium,” Mrs. Shea said, “and to start an annual Daniel Barken Day for hearing-impaired kids.”

His job at the school was to interpret for the hearing-impaired students, but he did much more, Mrs. Shea said. He often talked to students, especially the boys, about the consequences of making bad decisions, something he knew well.

“He had life experiences they probably had no idea about,” Mrs. Shea said.

The outpouring of love friends and strangers have expressed since the death of Mr. Barken has delighted and overwhelmed his wife, Ronnie Barken. It is almost surreal, considering all that her husband overcame to reach this point in his life, she said.

They met 25 years ago, through friends of friends. They became close, but not necessarily in a romantic sense, she said. His substance abuse eventually drove them apart, but oddly brought them back together again after a 13-year estrangement.

“He told me I was his inspiration to change, because I was always there and never gave up on him,” Mrs. Barken said. “And he turned his whole life around.”

In 2005, Mr. Barken applied for a job at Front Page, his first employment in years. He was hired and immediately given the nickname of “Skills” because he kept assuring his interviewer he had “mad skills,” and could handle anything thrown his way.

While working there, he decided to go to college and earn certification as an interpreter of American sign language. It took him a couple of years, but in the fall of 2008, he left Front Page to become a full-time interpreter. That same year he and his then-fiancée eloped to Las Vegas with a dozen friends and got married in a wedding chapel, presided over by an Elvis impersonator no less.

With a new job and a wife, Mr. Barken embraced his new life, showering people with a positive attitude and trying to help others who might have lost their way.

“He wanted to give us a great life,” Mrs. Barken said. “And it was great while he was here.”

Mr. Barken is also survived by his mother, Dixie Blackwell of Cherokee County.