Condolences to family and friends of Jeff Mackintosh. He wrote of his impending death from cancer with courage and forthrightness. I always enjoyed chatting with him back in his game industry days and feel the sorrow of those close to him. The Pelgrane Press crew will commemorate him, as are many other tabletop publishers, by naming an upcoming character after him—in our case, in the upcoming Cthulhu Confidential. His final downturn came quickly but I think he had been informed that this was happening.
While on the subject of passings, I would also like to celebrate the joyous music of Buckwheat Zydeco, aka Stanley Dural Jr., who will not be making his November gig at Antone’s in Austin. I once saw him at a small Toronto club, where the promoter had to warn him that local blues audiences stayed glued to their chairs and that this didn’t mean they weren’t enjoying themselves. My wife and I did our best to disprove this but were 50% of the people on the dance floor.
This weekend we also lost Bill Nunn, who as Radio Raheem pulses as the heart of anger in Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing. He played every role with solidity and authenticity.
All three of these men were taken by cancer.
You can’t take revenge on an abstract concept. Death isn’t a dude in a skull mask you can flip off. But we could, it would be by recognizing the precious value of the time we do get on this earth, and savoring it as best we can. In the next days I will strive to do something with Jeff’s attention to detail, the sheer fun of zydeco music, the truth of Bill Nunn’s acting.
