Neale Davidson

[itsjes...@gmail.com]

I dont think he'd been around these parts for a very long time, but Neale Davidson has passed away at 44.

[Zobovor]

On Sunday, June 26, 2016 at 7:08:02 PM UTC-6, itsjes...@gmail.com wrote:

> I dont think he'd been around these parts for a very long time, but Neale
> Davidson has passed away at 44.

I never know what to say during times like this. What a tragedy to die so young. He was only four years older than me.

My strongest memories of Neale were his scathing reviews of Beast Machines, but he also contributed a lot to the fandom. He was a highly prolific fanfic writer and produced dozens of Beast Wars stories. He was an extremely talented font designer, so much so that the fonts of his design very frequently crept into Hasbro packaging, Cartoon Network's Toonami slot, the new Star Trek films, etc. (He was notoriously convinced that people left and right were borrowing his work, but as a fellow creative type, I've experienced that myself, so I can totally relate.)

Rest in peace, Neale. You will be missed.


Zob

[Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats]

On Sunday, June 26, 2016 at 6:08:02 PM UTC-7, itsjes...@gmail.com wrote:
> I dont think he'd been around these parts for a very long time, but Neale Davidson has passed away at 44.

That's quite a shame -- I remember him as being a good guy, very passionate about the fandom and his hobbies, and a very creative writer. Pushed people a little bit, but I think we all did back then.

My condolences to his family -- a brief bit of googling, and I see he had a wife, a daughter and a father (at least, if my googling was accurate). It's hard for a kid to lose a parent when they are still young, and it a devastating for a parent to lose a child. And then I stopped googling since it felt weird and creepy and intrusive.

44 is really very young -- that's how old my brother was when he died, and one year younger than I am now.

[Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats]

On Monday, June 27, 2016 at 12:23:23 AM UTC-7, Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats wrote:
>
> My condolences to his family -- a brief bit of googling, and I see he had a wife, a daughter and a father (at least, if my googling was accurate). It's hard for a kid to lose a parent when they are still young, and it a devastating for a parent to lose a child. And then I stopped googling since it felt weird and creepy and intrusive.

Ok, a bit more googling, and a bit more information available -- three daughters, and he died of a brain aneurism. They have a gofundme page now with the info.

> 44 is really very young -- that's how old my brother was when he died, and one year younger than I am now.

I'm really a little freaked out by how he and I have the same nose. You hear about someone you only know tangentially dying, and you start making connections, and it's always something truly bizarre that either makes it hit home or not.

I would have expected that if anything would make it hit home, it would be the sudden nature of the death, and body choosing to betray him -- I had a pulmonary embolism a few years back and nearly died, and my brother had woken up with a heart attack and promptly died a few years before that. Or the fact that his father is still around, and my memories of my father having such a hard time dealing with my brother's death. But, nope, it's the nose.

I mean, the rest of it is all there, and he was a pretty nice guy as I recall, and I remember reading and liking his Beast Wars fanfics, but what really brings it home for me is that shared nose.

Also, I hate my nose.

[Manic]

On Sunday, June 26, 2016 at 6:08:02 PM UTC-7, itsjes...@gmail.com wrote:

> I dont think he'd been around these parts for a very long time, but Neale Davidson has passed away at 44.

I remember him from the late 90s/early 2000s before my ISP dropped usenet feeds and browser-based mail application dropped the newsgroup readers. It's so sad to hear about this and my condolences go out to his family.