AWD made his last comment on August 2 telling me to have a good time on my vacation in Wildwood. After two weeks I sent him an email to see if he was OK. I didn’t receive a response. I began to fear the worst.
I started googling his name tonight and sadly found what I didn’t want to find. His obituary.
AWD died in his home on August 5. The autopsy revealed he died of natural causes. It sounded like he had been sick. He is survived by his two daughters. He was only 50 years old.
AWD has been one of TBPs biggest contributors throughout the years. He always had my back. We disagreed sometimes, but he always supported me. He took the pressure off me by finding interesting articles to post. His contributions always generated great debates.
His original moniker was Asshole Doctor. But, I made so many jokes about him being a proctologist that he changed it to AWD.
Avalon and I are shocked and saddened by this terrible news. I feel sad for his young daughters. He loved TBP and the assortment of characters. One of his last comments was on the What Woke You Up post. His fondness for the people on the site and description of TBP captures our community perfectly:
“The Burning Platform opened my eyes. Seriously. That’s not me just blowing smoke up Admin’s ass”
Quinn let me use a Rome post of his for a book I wrote. He was very cool about it. Then I finally saw TBP, and it’s changed my life. It’s gotten me to prepare for what is coming. It enriches my life on a daily basis. I get to hang out with Stuck, and every other person on here, the coolest, smartest, most grounded, sensible, funny, deep, well, not enough superlatives. And from all over the country, but like a a hang-out, bar, party, barbeque, bachelor party, you know; lots of fun and insight. Greatest blog their is, free for all, controlled anarchy. It’s whatever we make it, and we make it good….
His last comment on my Gone Fishin post about going to Wildwood perfectly captures the no holds barred craziness of this site:
bb
Go fuck yourself. Dumb ass village idiot.
Have fun Admin…..
We’ve now lost two huge pieces of TBP – Smokey and AWD. They both held nothing back. The place will never be the same without AWD. I’ll miss him. I hope him and Smokey have met up in heaven (???) and are cursing like sailors about Obama and the rest of the dumbasses running this country.
Farwell Doc. We will all try to breathe.
I don’t know that AWD , upon his untimely demise, would have wanted his online persona so easily connected with his personal and family life…some close friends and immediate family may be extremely upset to learn of AWD’s true feelings toward controversial issues they’d never heard him express…jus’ sayin’…we all have our closets and most of us hope they remain closed ,even upon death.
Flash – he may also not have wanted his feelings towards his exes to become known to his daughters, etc. I believe it was a mistake to “out” him. He said many things that he may well have wanted to keep anonymous. But the exact opposite may be true, and I may be wrong. Stuck’s heart was in the right place.
I personally would not want my name associated with the internet, ever. It is similar to the confidentiality reporters extend to sources. The veil of anonimity allows for info to become public that would otherwise not. I am able to discuss business happenings, albeit discreetly, that I could not if there was no veil.
I agree LIpoh, most of use would never deal so harshly with issues that stick in our craw writing under our real names as we do in anonymity , and not necessarily for the protection of our own reputation or feelings , but more so for the protection of those we love. On occasion under the cover of AWD, the good doctor let it all hang out, as have many of us here, and now that he’s not here to give his consent, none of us can be %100 sure that he would want to share his online personal with his closet friend and immediate family.
Personally I would not advocate leaving personal messages to his family alluding to his online persona as some ass-hat has already done on the Disclosure site , but that’s just my opinion .I’m sure AWD had one on the subject too, but now we’ll never know what that was, so why no ere on the side of caution , for his family’s sake?
And, that’s my 2 cents…I’ll say no more on the subject.
I deleted the link to his obituary and his picture. I think Llpoh and flash are right. He wanted anonymity when he was alive. I can’t judge what he would have wanted in death.
Stuck
Are you able to remove the link on the obituary comment?
The guy had successful medical practice and was described as well liked. Do you think he used the same ‘persona’ in real life as he did here? and now Stucky provides a link in his obituary? This all may be well intentioned, but it’s still in very poor taste.
I couldn’t bring myself to click on it anyway.
I’m back.
Llpoh
A few things.
1. I completely misread/misunderstood what you meant. Re-reading your first comment, it is just NOW clear to me that you ONLY meant having fun with my last name … nothing more.
2. I am, to this day, EXTREMELY sensitive about being called Cockman. But, you had no way of knowing that. Hence, I thought I gave a reasonable first response. Cockman, Crotchman, Dickman, Butthole, and even Fuckman (which made little sense) all started around 5th grade and lasted through early high school, It wasn’t said in “fun”, they didn’t laugh with me, they laughed at me, it was said to hurt. Kids are so cruel. I was just a kid … not an adult who could reason out the stuff about “sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me”. Fact is , it did hurt, a lot. Unless you’ve been through that … you have no idea. I’m not look for sympathy here. I’m just trying to explain my outburst, When I saw it here again after all these years it just brought back some bad memories.
3. I over-reacted …. I hope you now understand why. You apologized .. even though you were under no obligation to do so. I thank you, and accept it.
4. Let’s hit the “reset button”. I don’t want to be at war with you. As far as I am concerned, it is water under the bridge. Let us speak of it no more.
5. I’m sorry for the ruckus.
6. Peace.
.
PS Admin; I can’t remove the obit comment. I meant it for well, but I guess I fucked up. On the bright side, maybe AWD’s friends or family members … if they happen to read it … know that many people across this country had most high regards for him.
Stuck – no problemo. BTW – it was no bed of roses growing up a poor, dirty redskin. (Why I object to the term used for a sports team).
But this site is different. I get called dumb injun, etc., all the time hereabouts. Admin loves to taunt me, gentleman that the dumb mick is, with that. Sometimes it is hilarious.
I would have guessed you caught tons of shite for that growing up. You turned out fine.
I knew it would rile you some, but figured you could take it. Still do.
But I really never meant anything else – never crossed my mind. I was in third grade potty humor mode. My favorite! My family knows about that only too well!
Again, no problemo. You da man.
“This all may be well intentioned, but it’s still in very poor taste.” —– geezer fight
You are correct.
I went back to the obit page and left another note asking that my post be deleted.
I also directly emailed the Managing Editor, and two other managers, asking for the post to be deleted.
I also have their phone number, and will call later this morning.
“I personally would not want my name associated with the internet, ever. It is similar to the confidentiality reporters extend to sources. The veil of anonimity allows for info to become public that would otherwise not. I am able to discuss business happenings, albeit discreetly, that I could not if there was no veil.”
This x1000. Sometimes life is better when its compartmentalized.
This is indeed sad news and very much unexpected. I always read AWD’s posts with keen interest and his hatred for lefties and liberals were almost legendary.
Sitting in India I never thought I could feel sorrow over the departing of someone who writes on a blog. Yes write he did and he did it with passion. May the good Lord strengthen his near ones especially his daughters to accept this loss and let them find peace in God.
TBP is a unique place. Most of the articles here are not so irrelevant to what is happening in India yet I feel so connected to the good people here. Sometimes after reading the posts I debate it with a feeling that the writer is right before me.
That was a very quick and easy reconciliation. Kudos.
This whole scenario is a fascinating case study in how virtual communities are a pale shadow of community in the real sense, I.e. living in close contact and substantial cooperation with other human beings
A real community is very difficult to find, much less incorporate your life into, particularly in modern day America, so it’s understandable when people over estimate the value of a virtual forum.
I should also say, hello to AWD’s daughters!
“That was a very quick and easy reconciliation. Kudos.” —— geezer love
geezer, no one ever takes my “I’m-pissed-and-leaving-for-a-while’ posts seriously. I’m the boy who cries “Wolf!” far too often.
But, I didn’t get a good sleep last night, that’s for sure. llpoh has been here for years … I think he and I have the most posts at this point …. and, deep in his black Injun heart, he knows I think the world of him.
I did make the phone call …. got the person’s name who could help …. he didn’t pick up, so I left a voice mail …. also emailed him. As soon as I get an update, I will let you all know. Krist Almighty, I feel so bad about this.
Every blade in the field
Every leaf in the forrest
Lays down it’s life in it’s season
As beautifully as it was taken up
thoreau
@ Stucky,
Whatever you do don’t go drown your sorrows over a Wendy’s hamburger….TBP can’t handle another untimely passing
RIP AWD
Stucky, Lipoh and Admin
This has been an interesting exercise in establishing a group norm. A thorny problem (web persona vs. privacy) has been hashed out and seemingly resolved satisfactorily. Congratulations.
I fully appreciate the pulling of “AWD’s” picture and obituary, but who KNEW he was so devastatingly handsome too?
Note to “Thinker:” Thanks, my dear!
“Ty Z:” Beautiful sentiments and contribution. My favorite poem in the whole world is assuredly “AWD” worthy:
Funeral Blues – Written by W H Auden
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.
Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message ‘He is Dead’.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.
He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.
The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.
– See more at: http://allpoetry.com/Funeral-Blues#sthash.mJziQAIu.dpuf
Thought AWD might have liked this.. always was one of my favorites..
My comment above was RE: the song by Iris Dement… not the stupid video that went with it… I copy/pasted before I realized what it was…
Oh, the irony…
You all did the right thing by protecting the anonymity of AWD, and you did it QUICKLY. You are to be commended for that. We come here with a trust that our personal identities will be protected. Without that trust, most will become hesitant to speak their minds.
I personally don’t share too many details about myself. I have some good stories to tell, but I don’t relate them as they might give away who I am, at least to some.
I am glad this community has agreed that protecting AWD’s identity is of paramount importance. It is the right thing to do. Well done!
I didn’t get a call back from the newspaper guys regarding my request ….. so I went to the link …. and, sure enough, not only is my comment gone, but the whole obit is gone. Alrighty then!!!
THANK YOU, Bryan at the Daily Register!!
Sooooo glad that has been resolved.
It was too late Stucky.
Kate Upton? Obama hater? Unsympathetic to fat people? Now I am burdened with the knowledge that I didn’t know my father at all. Thanks for ruining every memory I thought I had.
PS. Excellent article on castles.
Rest in peace Doc.
deep in his black Injun heart,
I thought LLPOH was a purebred Indian. Now we know, mulatto boy. That explains the black mamba.
I agree with T4C, gulp. People left behind want more and AWD never said anything his family would regret, I have read somewhere that rich folks don’t hide slobbering gramps out back but have him at the dinner table with dignity. Children may not understand at the moment but in time, as they mature they come to understand and appreciate their father more and more.
Stucky is a person who acts with the best of intentions where others fear to go. I admire this in him. He offered to the family the gift of AWD’s innermost thoughts. I think if I heard my dad had a secret life and the whole world knew that part of him but me, I’d feel cheated. Nevertheless, I understand the privacy concerns of everyone else. But I appreciate that Admin gave us a glimpse of AWD, the man behind the words. Such a gift of seeming closure! To learn of the real man, bigger in life and apparently with more humility than we gave him credit for.
And another thing, only recently did I learn Billy is some gorgeous George type stud, I always pictured him as some fat toothless slob and treated him accordingly, my bad. That explains the ego.
Actually, go with your first inclination.
PS. I don’t really exist
@AWD: You will be badly missed by many people.
MA
I think I stirred the pot up above, apologies to you both. You, know, Stuck, long before llpoh, I thought of posting A Boy Named Sue for you.
AWD would have loved to be around, to see the day llpoh apologized in under two minutes. Wonder of wonders. Has he ever apologized before?
AWD … You SOB .. I just found out you died. I will miss you! I always hoped to meet you. Maybe in the next life my friend . I will carry on for you telling bb he’s a piece of shit. Most of all I will miss you my friend rest in peace.