In light of the news regarding Jay's death, I would like to dedicate this thread to our longtime friend. He will never be too far from our hearts, from whatever arguments that we may have had, to whatever laughs he had to share with us.
Jay would be the third person that I would know of who would die from cancer at such a young age. My brother's friend passed away in February 2007 at age 26 after a battle with colorectal cancer. Eight years earlier, my cousin, at 16, passed away after a battle with leukemia. Goes to show that anything can happen and that one should always learn to live life to the fullest.
I hope that his wife and daughter can find solace that their husband and father is no longer going through the pain any cancer sufferrer would go through. May they cherish his memory as if he was still alive.
As a show of respect, please be sure to turn off your signatures when posting in this thread. We want to dedicate this thread solely in his memory. No links, no quotes (unless they are attributed to Jay himself), and please, no political discussions.
[ January 25, 2008, 09:21 AM: Message edited by: Saltah'na ]
Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
/Signed.
Posted by Dukhat (Member # 341) on :
Saltah'na,
Thanks for the nice tribute to John. He will be missed.
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
Stickied.
From B.J.'s post in the other thread...
quote:WEBB, John Died October 7, 2007 in the comfort of his home after a courageous battle with brain cancer. Beloved husband of Deborah Horowitz Webb and adoring father of Lyla Rose, loving uncle to Tilly and Jasper. Son of Linda and Chester Webb, brother of Jeff. Son-in-law to Leslie and David Horowitz, brother-in-law to Janna and Bill Sandmeyer. Services will be held Wednesday, October 10, at 1 p.m., at Oakwood Cemetery, 22601 Lassen Street, Chatsworth, CA 91311.
Posted by Pensive's Wetness (Member # 1203) on :
Guess i don't know this individual...
but somehow i think i'm missing much in lacking this knowledge... no?
Could someone explain more to me, please...?
Guess i suppose how we react here is no different than when my own brother passed away last summer to heart disease. I had to make an account on my bro's regular haunt. That alone wasn't fun, but nessy. guess i wanted people to know after all...
/me sighs and prays, privately.
Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :
For those who don't know, Jay was one of the original members of this forum, right back to the CommRelay days. Always a political junkie, always sparring with other members of the board over American politics and the whatnot.
In 2005, Jay's unfortunate saga with cancer began with headaches that went on for several days straight. His saga is documented here Posted by Harry (Member # 265) on :
.
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
I felt a certain kinship with him when he was going through his trials at the same time I was going through mine. We also seemed to be getting better about the same time, so I was hopeful for him. Some friends of my family... she had a deep brain tumor, and he had lung cancer. Her tumor was surgically removed, and hasn't come back. His responded to treatment and altered lifestyle, and he's in full remission. So I had hope and precedent.
He died on the day I found out my adrenal function was back to normal (after getting off the steroids), and I could schedule my surgery to repair the hernia from my first surgery. The last major hurdle on my return to normalcy.I feel really guilty about that for some reason.
I'll miss you, Jay...
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
While I never really engaged the Obscure One in political stuff (myself having gone off politics by then), I did enjoy talking with him about our mutual love of jazz. We had mostly different tastes with some overlap, but it was nice to have that intercourse.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
RIP Jay, the world needs more people like him.
Posted by OnToMars (Member # 621) on :
Farewell, Jay. There are too few good people in this world, and we are certainly one poorer now.
Posted by sean (Member # 2010) on :
Amen
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
I don't know that I ever had a pleasant discussion with Jay. I wish I had. So much wasted time...
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
John was one of the first people I met online, in any meaningful sense, back in 1996 or thereabouts. Being much more awkwardly nerdy (or perhaps just less self-conscious about it) I spent all my time on some flavor or other of Yahoo! Chat, gravitating towards the Star Trek rooms because, well, I mean, yeah. Anyway, that's where we met. Diane too (Ziyal). And after getting my initial (sad, sad, so sad) rocks off pretending to be various TV show characters, I wound up getting in some heady discussions with John about music, and history, and the like. I was still feeling out my entrance into the adult world, and being able to have conversations about subjects that never came up among my friends in high school was a minor revelation.
John sent me an actual physical copy of Kind of Blue once, I presume on a whim after we'd talked about jazz. (I didn't get it; he was passionate about it.) I didn't and don't know what to say in the face of such generous enthusiasm. I get jazz now.
We hadn't spoken to each other directly much in the last few years, even before he became ill. I assumed, I suppose, that I'd always be able to send him a private message here to catch up, one of these days. When I got around to it.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
Thinking about it now, I never really engaged with Jay given he was such a long-term member - never had him on my ICQ list, or anything. And I always had most of the Old Ones on my lists - still do. Not that we chat much anymore. We should have a Sunday chat sometime, for old times sake.
I guess, when I think of Jay I mainly focus on the fact that we both had our first (and in his case, sadly only) child only three months apart. I kept my news quiet throughout the pregnancy but it was fun to read Jay's updates, it helped prepare (if anything really could). He was thrilled to be a Dad.
He will be missed.
Posted by The Mighty Monkey of Mim (Member # 646) on :
Vaya con Dios, amigo. Posted by Dat (Member # 302) on :
I may have been in a few discussions with Jay (or Mr. Webb), but even if I had not, he'll be missed. Goodby.
Posted by Mucus (Member # 24) on :
*bows head in silence as well*
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
Wow, man, damn. Same age I am.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
I'm too recent a poster (especially an active poster) to have really known him; when I started hanging around here more often about this time last year, his thread was already fairly well-established. Still, I read the whole thing and I felt a lot of empathy, although I'm sure it's nothing to what those who knew him feel. I was still holding out a brittle hope until I came on today and saw the subject line of this thread in the "Active Topics" section.
Shine on, Jay, to whatever awaits you.
Quick additional: I wanted to repeat what was said in the other thread, and ask if anyone who lives in or near LA could see if they can get anything from the funeral home, so that we can at the very least pay our respects to his family.
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
God Speed, Jay.
My condolences to his family.
It's sad to read of his death.
Posted by The Ginger Beacon (Member # 1585) on :
This news has taken quite a while to sink in, most likely because I was hoping it wouldn't come. So long Jay.
Posted by Aethelwer (Member # 36) on :
Rest in peace, Jay.
Posted by Diane (Member # 53) on :
Wow. I was afraid he had passed when he didn't return after his last post.
He and Simon were one of the first people I "hung out" with after we met in the Yahoo Star Trek chatroom. Half the time I was bored with what they were talking about when not discussing Trek (politics, history, and what not), but I remember the three of us playing 3-way Alpha Centauri once or twice. He invited me to go see one of his Civil War re-enactments, but I never did go (no car at the time). Once when I was doing a history term paper in high school, he helped me out by giving me a list of books to look up.
You will be missed, John.
Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
Jay,
I wish we were both blogging the presidential campaign like we did four years ago. I think you'd be getting a real kick out of this stuff, and your commentary is missed.
Posted by Toadkiller (Member # 425) on :
Wow. I'm way behind the times. Had worried when he hadn't posted in so long.
Clear skies and following seas.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Looking back, I dont think I ever discussed Trek or any sci-fi with Jay- it was always his political links that inspired me to chime in with some comment. The fact that he cared about what was going on in the world really came across for me- now I'm following real world events instead of just fictional ones...or as much as fictional events anyway.
That's something to me.
I'll miss Jay and I wish him adventure- wherever he now resides.
Posted by Daryus Aden (Member # 12) on :
Its been so long....RIP mate.
Posted by akb1979 (Member # 557) on :
Just arrived back here after a long absense only to find out about Jay...I think (if my memory serves me well today) that I've had some conversations with him in this forum. Jay always came across as a decent, polite person who always had time for you. I can't say that I knew him well, but I knew him...and I am glad that I did. His passing is a very sad thing and I am sorry that he did not win his fight against cancer.
At least he is at peace now. My thoughts are with him and his family.
RIP Jay, may you forever be a part of us in our thoughts and fond memories.
![[Frown]](frown.gif)