MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Hundreds of items belonging to David Lynch were sold at auction this week. Lynch, who died in January, was famous for making the surrealist films "Eraserhead" and "Mulholland Drive," and the TV show "Twin Peaks." NPR's Emma Bowman went to the auction, held in a ritzy hotel in Beverly Hills, where she found that some hopeful bidders were still trying to come to terms with his death.
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UNIDENTIFIED AUCTIONEER: Going once, twice. Sold $4,500 paddle number.
EMMA BOWMAN, BYLINE: Celebrity estate auction bidding is normally a subdued tradition, but this one was a bit livelier. There were cheers, tears and from the auctioneers, some light jeers.
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UNIDENTIFIED AUCTIONEER: Saws, hammers, screwdrivers. And I know you need an ax. Yeah, this man looks like he needs an ax.
BOWMAN: She's looking at Alex Koch. He's bidding on a set of carpentry tools once owned by the late filmmaker.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Good job, man. Good job.
BOWMAN: That's Koch coming out on top.
ALEX KOCH: I'm shaking a little bit from winning.
BOWMAN: He's an actor and also a craftsman, kind of like Lynch, whose artistry extended to furniture making. Koch was inspired.
KOCH: After I graduated college and I wanted to get rid of Ikea furniture, so I started learning. And...
BOWMAN: But his woodshop tools are now gone. They vanished along with his home in the wildfire that ravaged the northeast Los Angeles County town of Altadena in January.
KOCH: So it's, like, weirdly - I'm kind of rebuilding stuff, so I kind of wanted something meaningful. And while the fires were going on, David Lynch sadly passed away. So I don't know...
BOWMAN: The auction was something of a mirthful wake. The mood was reflective, respectful, and celebratory, supercharged by free-flowing coffee served at the Peninsula Hotel. Lynch would have approved. The lots on offer included an absurd amount of Lynch's espresso and coffee machines. The stuff he loved were themes in his life and in his art.
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KYLE MACLACHLAN: (As Dale Cooper) This is - excuse me - a damn fine cup of coffee.
BOWMAN: That famous line from "Twin Peaks" was spoken by special agent Dale Cooper, a quirky, deadpan character many believe is based on Lynch himself. George Griffith, who portrayed Ray Monroe in the "Twin Peaks" reboot, was outbid on one of Lynch's fancy Italian espresso machines.
Why that one?
GEORGE GRIFFITH: I love coffee. I make coffee every day. I've had coffee with David, and I just thought, you know, that it would be a nice way to just have him in my house.
BOWMAN: When I asked him what it was like to work with Lynch, he got emotional. He said that Lynch saw the best in people, something Griffith considers a real gift.
Emma Bowman, NPR News, Los Angeles.
(SOUNDBITE OF DAVID LYNCH'S "THE NIGHT BELL WITH LIGHTNING") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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