"And for Christ sakes, live, never delay"
mwbard, Michael Bard, known in his fandom as "Morgan," suffered a severe stroke while at work late last week. He works the night shift at a gas station and was not discovered for several hours. As of the latest information I've seen, he is in a coma with no expecation of recovery. Michael is 45. kores_rabbit and I actually attended his birthday dinner last October.
While it is premature to write an obituary, from what I have been told it seems certain that whatever happens Michael, as we knew him, is not coming back. I still entertain the hope that he'll wake up and be amused and touched by all the fuss caused by his illness.
Michael is one of the more talented writers I've met. His stories run the gamut from hard SF to whimsical fantasies and appear in several fan anthologies. He's created his own worlds for AD&D, and is an avid (if seldom successful) historical wargamer. He made a living (for a time) painting miniature armies for other wargamers. In the last few years, he turned his hand to making fursuits and costumes, some of them quite elaborate.
Michael is estranged from his family. I know it has been literally decades since he had any significant contact with his parents. His life has not been an easy one - struggles with depression, employment, and so on. For a long time he lived in a house with some housemates, but constantly dealt with negligent landlord, and general disrepair of the building. Housemates came and went, some good, some bad. Last April, he discovered the body of his last remaining housemate.
Michael (L) and his boyfriend, Jacob (R), in August 2009.
From that low point, things got better. He found love in a long distance relationship. He moved out of the lonely and rundown house into an apartment with friends who shared his interests. He got involved with local fandom, and was, in fact, one of the convention planners for the recent Furnal Equinox. I think he would be surprised to learn just how well known and well-liked he is, and how well-regarded his work is.
Last weekend, I ran two demo RPG sessions at Furnal Equinox. Michael's boyfriend, Jacob, played in both. He noted that Michael was not feeling well. In his blog this past weekend Jacob (who is politically conservative), notes that Michael changed his mind about a lot of things. Jacob thought, for example, that same sex marriages were immoral. However, he had recently decided to propose to Michael, but had not yet summoned the nerve to do so.
"And for Christ sakes, live, never delay," Jacob wrote in his blog yesterday.
The persistent theme in Michael's writing, costumes, and roleplay, is one of transformation. Michael, while pragmatic and realistic about his humanity, did not want to be one. My hope for him, is that his dream might come true, somehow.
While it is premature to write an obituary, from what I have been told it seems certain that whatever happens Michael, as we knew him, is not coming back. I still entertain the hope that he'll wake up and be amused and touched by all the fuss caused by his illness.
Michael is one of the more talented writers I've met. His stories run the gamut from hard SF to whimsical fantasies and appear in several fan anthologies. He's created his own worlds for AD&D, and is an avid (if seldom successful) historical wargamer. He made a living (for a time) painting miniature armies for other wargamers. In the last few years, he turned his hand to making fursuits and costumes, some of them quite elaborate.
Michael is estranged from his family. I know it has been literally decades since he had any significant contact with his parents. His life has not been an easy one - struggles with depression, employment, and so on. For a long time he lived in a house with some housemates, but constantly dealt with negligent landlord, and general disrepair of the building. Housemates came and went, some good, some bad. Last April, he discovered the body of his last remaining housemate.
Michael (L) and his boyfriend, Jacob (R), in August 2009.
From that low point, things got better. He found love in a long distance relationship. He moved out of the lonely and rundown house into an apartment with friends who shared his interests. He got involved with local fandom, and was, in fact, one of the convention planners for the recent Furnal Equinox. I think he would be surprised to learn just how well known and well-liked he is, and how well-regarded his work is.
Last weekend, I ran two demo RPG sessions at Furnal Equinox. Michael's boyfriend, Jacob, played in both. He noted that Michael was not feeling well. In his blog this past weekend Jacob (who is politically conservative), notes that Michael changed his mind about a lot of things. Jacob thought, for example, that same sex marriages were immoral. However, he had recently decided to propose to Michael, but had not yet summoned the nerve to do so.
"And for Christ sakes, live, never delay," Jacob wrote in his blog yesterday.
The persistent theme in Michael's writing, costumes, and roleplay, is one of transformation. Michael, while pragmatic and realistic about his humanity, did not want to be one. My hope for him, is that his dream might come true, somehow.