Smokedaddy has passed away

[Takayuki Yagami]

Damn, that's rough.

 

[Olhelm]

RIP, dude who had a conversation with me about something meaningless.

You will be missed.

 

[the Borg]

I've never talked to Smoke, but I saw his impact on the forums and it was something special.

A poem, commonly attributed to Mary Frye:

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there - I do not sleep.
I am the thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints in snow,
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
As you awake with morning's hush
I am the swift-up-flinging rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there - I did not die.

Fly far across the rainbow bridge, Smoke.

 

[Cid Highwind]

I remember being driven crazy by the fly walking around on his avatar.

 

[voiceguy]

I am a new arrival here and never knew the man, but my condolences go out to each member here who did. From what I've read of the comments here, he was a remarkable person to know. I wish I had.

 

[BlueArmedDevil]

Rest in Peace

 

[Dork Of Ages]

I gotta say, this is the first time I heard of someone I know, or rather, I am aware of on the Internet pass away. I read his thread about being a gamedev in the 90s. It's a really weird feeling.

But rest in peace Eric (you have my brother's name!) and thanks for being on the forums and generally being a cool person. Otherwise, I would have never heard of you.

 

[Mourning Dove]

Once I joined the forums Smokedaddy had stopped posting here regularly, so I never got to know him very well. But he seems like an awesome person, being a founder of these forums and all! RIP.

 

[Frank Rizzo]

I too never knew or spoke to Smokedaddy, but from reading the posts in this thread, he sounded like a very nice person.

R.I.P, and my condolences to his family and friends.

 

[LM 697]

He was my friend and I'll miss him. I regret never playing computer games with him like he used to ask me every so often.

 

[ASoulMan]

R.I.P. smokedaddy

I never knew him, but it's always sad to hear about things like this.

 

[LordDarkrai]

Rest in peace. I may of not known him, but he sounds like a really awesome guy.

 

[Bugaboo]

Back in the day on the pre Null forum he posted more than he did after, I didn't know him well but he seemed like a nice man.
I'm super upset right now, I get really emotional when people in a close community die even when I didn't know them well

 

[_blank_]

This was a sucky thing to find out. At least the guy died beside his family.

Like many other people here, I knew of Smoke but didn't actually correspond with him. I remember reading his thread in the vidya forums about how to ask him anything about being in game development. I always wanted to ask him if there was chance that someone like me could get into vidya game development even though I'm no longer in my early 20s and I've never dyed my hair except once for Halloween. Guess I'll never find out now. Damn.

He was one of the good ones. I hope his presence has passed on to the newer blood of the forums. He will be missed.

 

[Philosophy Zombie]

Unfortunately I don't have much to say that hasn't already been said. I saw Smokedaddy occasionally, but he stopped posting regularly a year or so before I found this site (I lurked sometimes back in yuku days, still don't think I saw him. Or maybe I did? Was he the guy with the fly avatar? It was a long time ago) and I never interacted with him. I was always curious about him though, and I knew he was a person to deeply respect. RIP

 

[Flowers For Sonichu]

53 is way too young. My thoughts will be with his family as they go through this tough time.

 

[ChurchOfGodBear]

I never spoke to him in private chat or email, but I did enjoy his contributions greatly. He was a model for how I wanted to present myself to the forum, and the kind of community member I aspired to be. I wish peace to whatever family he had in this time.

 

[ToroidalBoat]

I didn't really know SmokeDaddy myself, but he seemed to be knowledgeable and well liked, from what I could tell. I hope he's at peace, and I hope his family is OK.

 

[Sonic Speed Monkey]

I never spoke to Smokedaddy, but I've heard great things about him over the years.

RIP, man. I can easily see you'll be missed heavily.

 

[Jaimas]

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/saltlaketribune/obituary.aspx?pid=174806712

This is a peculiar thread to make. My relationship with Smokedaddy was only a collection of very, very long emails that were sent when I had no one else I could talk to. The other day I sent him an email for the first time in a few months to ask for some opinions on my project and I know now it will never be read. That is an odd feeling, and one I don't think I've ever had before.

Smokedaddy was an accomplished software engineer who has spent time developing many famous classic games from the 90s. If you have access to the off-topic boards and have somehow managed to miss his amazing thread on the video games industry, I would suggest reading up on it. Video games remained a huge part of his life even after he stopped developing them. He had a Steam account and was an avid player, with time on record leading up to the day he passed.

At 53, Smoke had the prestigious distinction of being one of our founders and one of our oldest members. In a community that is mostly made up of ornery twenty-somethings, he was a suitable sit-in for forum dad and a voice of reason. He was one of the many mellow voices that, next to @champthom and @brooklynbailiff, made the community a departure from /cwc/ and other Chris-related sites at the time. Without him, the forum may have fizzled out years ago as a meaningless try-hard, edgy troll site.


From what little I know of Smoke, I have nothing but positive things to say. He has been a impact on us all in at least some slight way. I will leave this open for other community members. Please be polite.

Smoke was a damned fine guy with some damned fine insight. I lament not having the chance to have known him better.

Respect, Smokedaddy. May you blaze it in heaven and share a hit with the greats in the hereafter.