"I fell in love with River when I saw him playing guitar at seven and singing "You Gotta Be a Baby" in every language that you can possibly conceive of. Everything from Latin, Spanish, French, Russian, Swahili...at least twenty languages."
                                                                                         - Sky

Many magazines have told and retold the story of how an article in a local newspaper about River and the other Phoenix children (who were appearing in various talent shows) was sent to Arlyn's school friend Penny Marshall (then starring in "Laverne and Shirley").  This prompted a Paramount employee to suggest to the family that they call in if they should ever visit California, but not to make a special trip.  This suggestion of course led to the Phoenix family immediately packing up their belongings and moving out to Hollywood in order to "make it".  It was their friend and benefactor Sky who bankrolled that trip to Hollywood.  Over the years Sky was not only a close friend to River, but he managed his band and was his personal assistant, looking after River's day-to-day affairs.  He also acted as watchdog to screen out unwanted media attention and to protect River's privacy.  Living at the Micanopy Ranch with the Phoenix family, Sky was one of River's "inner circle" of friends.

"River was definitely somebody who was a grownup at seven. You could have a conversation with him like you could with a thirty- or forty-year-old person.”

                                                                                          - Sky

"I guess by the time he turned nineteen, he had a band and he wanted to be a little bit of a kid. And he was. They used to play upstairs in this huge attic above the band room. Sometimes we went out on tour, and he had a good time. The only time we'd use his name was if we did a benefit concert for, like, the rain forest or indigenous people or cancer or Bill Clinton. He wanted to hang out with his peers, because he was usually hanging out with all these movie set people who were older. He was always hanging out with older people."
                                                                                         - Sky

"He was a strict vegetarian, a vegan-but it wasn't about health, it was about not killing....That's a real important point."
                                                                                         - Sky

There's a really neat story about River and Sky posted on Page 3 in the Comments and Feedback section of The River Phoenix Pages web site by a man named Phil.  Check it out if you get a chance!  It's the third post from the bottom of the page, so you'll have to scroll down quite a bit to find it.  It starts out with, "I actually got to meet River."