As Mark Baltimore's last days approached, his many friends and admirers rallied around him. They offered affection and memories, even if they could do nothing to fend off the pancreatic cancer that was sapping his life.
Stevie Wonder called, although Mr. Baltimore — who had been one of the biggest party promoters in the city from which he took his name — was too ill to speak with him. Ray Lewis, the Ravens linebacker, who often relied on Mr. Baltimore's skills as a nighttime host, was also in touch.
But it was his friend Jason Toliver who provided, perhaps, the best parting moment for the 36-year-old patient, who had always expressed a desire to own a sleek Italian sports car. A week ago, just five days before Mr. Baltimore died, Mr. Toliver managed to gather the owners of five exotic sports cars — two Ferrari F430s of recent vintage, a 1987 Ferrari Testarossa, a 2001 Porsche 911 Turbo and a 2004 Lamborghini Murcielago — for a surprise visit to the downtown hospice where Mr. Baltimore spent his final few weeks.
Taken out to the parking lot in a wheelchair, Mr. Baltimore looked momentarily confused, Mr. Toliver recalled Friday. "The disease and the drugs had taken their toll, and he had no real facial expression," said Mr. Toliver, whose gathering of sports cars had resulted from an "amazing" response to an Internet posting.
As the moment sank in, Mr. Baltimore asked, "Can I go for a ride?" Mr. Toliver told him to choose a car, and Baltimore picked the Lamborghini. The owner, Jason Kable, was happy to oblige.
Later, as all five cars were booming northward on the Jones Falls Expressway, Toliver — riding in one of the Ferraris — pulled up alongside the Lamborghini. "I leaned over to look," he said, "and Mark had a really big smile on his face."
For Mr. Toliver, a mortgage broker whose everyday ride is a more modest BMW, his friend's grin made everything worthwhile. "That was his last really responsive day," Mr. Toliver said, his voice turning hoarse.
Mr. Baltimore, whose real name was Mark Harris, was a founding partner of Blacklist Live, a company that held parties at Eden's Lounge, Red Maple, Club One, TD Lounge, Bourbon Street and other clubs in the city, according to Kuren Redmond Morgan, who described herself as one of his closest friends. She said Mr. Baltimore is survived by his mother, Evangeline Jeffers, and two teenage children, Marq and Kai.
"Mark found out he had cancer just three months ago and kept it to himself because he didn't want others to worry about him," she said. "But as Mark's condition worsened, he stopped going out and people took notice, asking, 'Where's Mark Baltimore?' You could step into any nightclub in this town and say his name — everyone knew him."
Ms. Morgan's husband, Jason Morgan, was one of Mr. Baltimore's business partners. The two men and a third partner, DeJuan Hunter, came up with the Blacklist Live name after Mr. Lewis asked them to organize a Christmas party about six years ago at Full Moon Bar-B-Que, his restaurant in Canton. But Mr. Baltimore, who adopted his new moniker only after becoming successful in the party business, kept his job as a barber at 43rd Flavor, a barbershop on York Road, until just a couple of years ago, Jason Morgan said.
Mr. Morgan, who shared with Mr. Baltimore an affinity for Duke University's Blue Devils basketball team, said his late partner had an expansive personality. "Even if you barely knew him," Mr. Morgan said, "he still had that best-friend appeal to him."
Another longtime friend, Angel Wallace, said that Mr. Baltimore had some "rough" times as a child but that he was able to overcome them.
Ms. Wallace, speaking from her home in Los Angeles, said she visited her friend in the hospital last month and knew it was the last time she would see him. "We sat and talked, and had some quiet moments," she said. "We had the words, but it wasn't necessary to say the words."
nick.madigan@baltsun. com