DAYTON, Ind. - Nel Hoon has a table in the living room of her Lafayette home covered with her son Shannon's keepsakes - a pair of tiny jeans embroidered with peace signs, a Winnie the Pooh doll, his McCutcheon High School jacket.  She also has 28 years' worth of memories, some of which she shared Tuesday while hundreds of friends and family, along with her son's bandmates, crowded into the Soller-Baker Funeral Home to pay their last respects to her son. Shannon Hoon, lead singer for the multimillion record-selling rock band Blind Melon, died Saturday in New Orleans of an accidental drug overdose. Survivors include his girlfriend, Lisa Crouse; their infant daughter, Nico Blue; his parents; a brother, Tim; a sister, Anna, and thousands of saddened fans.

"Whatever he did, no matter what it was, he took it to the limit," his mother said. "And he just thought he was invincible, I think. No matter what it was - when he was in school, he wanted to set (athletic) records. If he got angry, he got angrier than anyone I knew in the whole world. If he was good, he was the best."  As sad as Nel Hoon feels, her blue eyes light up and she smiles broadly thinking about Shannon. She said she and her daughter were sitting in bed at 4 a.m. Tuesday remembering funny family stories, like the time 12-year-old Shannon drove his dad home.  His father's instructions were: Don't drive under 30 miles an hour or over 30 miles an hour.  Shannon, Nel said, drove to the house, did an L turn at 30 miles an hour, and wrecked the truck. He jumped out and ran because he was afraid his dad would be mad. Later, he asked, "Dad, are you mad at me?"  His dad said, "No, I told you not to get under 30 miles an hour or over 30 miles an hour."  "There are a million of those stories and a million of those things toremember. I looked at him today and he looked beautiful. He looked absolutely beautiful." She said Shannon was a hyperactive child. Rather than give him medication, the Hoons enrolled their 4-year-old son in karate. By the time he was 9, Shannon had a black belt.  Shannon couldn't be stopped once he decided to do something, she said.  When he left Lafayette for Los Angeles in 1989, Greyhound drivers were on strike. Nel Hoon has a photo of Shannon waiting in the Indianapolis bus terminal for the strike to end. He spent two days there.  Eventually, he made it to Los Angeles and helped form Blind Melon. The group's debut album sold more than 2 million copies and he became a star.  But he also had his scrapes with the law, mostly for disorderly conduct. Blind Melon's manager, Chris Jones, said Tuesday that Shannon had been in drug rehabilitation twice, including Memorial Day weekend.  Jones said the last time Shannon was in rehab, his heart went out to a kid about 10 years old who had been abandoned by his parents and was crying every day. Shannon went out and bought him a BMX bicycle."  Shannon was in a lot of pain and dealing with a lot of stuff himself.  But he had such a big heart. He really cared about the fans . . . about his daughter, about Lisa, about his friends, about everybody. I feel fortunate to have known him and to have been close to him."  A trust fund has been set up for Shannon's daughter. Contributions may be sent to the Nico Blue Hoon Trust Fund, c/o Shapiro and Co., 9229 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif. 90069.

"He had an extreme passion for life," Jones says. "He loved his daughter more than anything in the universe."  His mother felt the same way about her son.  "I can't say enough good about my baby," Nel Hoon said. "I'm going to miss him something terrible.

Copyright 1995  The Indianapolis Star