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| My friend—Jeremy McIntosh |
The last time tragedy took
someone I was fond of, and after the initial shock of their loss wore off, I
wrote. That’s how I process my thoughts, open to the grieving, and share with
others. Yesterday, I learned that an old friend from Battle Mountain—Jeremy
McIntosh—passed away suddenly. Jeremy was that rare individual who seems to
know everyone and be loved by everyone. His loss struck deep, not just at me,
but all those around him.
This morning, as I was
preparing to write up this memorial, I opened Facebook to gather a couple of
pictures from his page to share. My feed was flooded with an outpouring of sorrow,
grief, condolences, and warm memories. They weren’t directed at me of course, which
is the point. The fact that Jeremy had touched and impacted so many lives was
testified to by the overpowering will of those in his vast, vast circle.
Jeremy was easily one of the
most unique individuals I’ve ever met. He befriended me—a scared, shy, “new kid”—when
he recognized (according to him) a kindred creative soul. What I remember most
about Jeremy was his ability to draw. He always, always, always had a sketchpad
or a spiral notebook, filled with his doodles, drawing, portraits, and experiments.
Once, Jeremy shared with me
the start of a comic book he was working on at the time, a kind of
X-Men/Justice League group of super heroes. This being Jeremy, though, the
group wasn’t going to have it easy. Their budget (for fighting crime and evil)
was astoundingly small, and limited. They would have to become self-sufficient
or the group would be disbanded.
That was Jeremy. A guy who
could see the beauty of the world, but knew that it was finite, knew that it
required work to maintain and grow.
Jeremy was a reader. A
voracious consumer of books. When I knew him, through high school, he was
reading mostly fantasy novels. His library of stacked paperbacks mixed with a
few hardcovers, was enviable. We shared that love of reading, and talked about
authors and stories, and exchanged books. We branched out into movies, and he recommended
The Highlander to me—it was a good
recommendation. My mother reminded me that she’d lent him one of Terry Brooks’
Shannara books. He devoured it in days and returned the borrowed copy in
perfect, pristine condition.
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| There's that smile! |
Always conscious of others,
and how his actions might impact them.
Jeremy was one of the people
I made an active and concerted effort to track down and friend on social media.
Back in the day, Jeremy had believed in my writing. He was interested and encouraging
and present. I wasn't sure if he'd read anything of mine, but I recently discovered that not only had he bought my books, he'd been encouraging others to buy them too. Reading through the memories and thoughts of others this morning,
that was the epitome of who Jeremy was—he believed in and liked people for who
they were. He saw what they were capable of and urged them to pursue it. If he could, he would help you accomplish great things.
I think he saw that in
himself too. A relentless pursuit of who he was and what he could become, just like when
he taught himself to backflip. He did this first by standing on a four-foot
tall cinder block wall surrounded by concrete benches, concrete tables and more concrete. He leaped out, backwards into the air in an impossibly tight spin. The first time I watch him do it,
it freaked me out. I had visions of him slamming his head into any one of the many concrete shapes that surrounded us.
He
didn’t. He was always successful. He was very much like the
speaker in the Shel Silverstein poem Hug
O’ War:
I
will not play at tug o' war.
I'd
rather play at hug o' war,
Where
everyone hugs
Instead
of tugs,
Where
everyone giggles
And
rolls on the rug,
Where
everyone kisses,
And
everyone grins,
And
everyone cuddles,
And
everyone wins
That’s how I will remember
him. Friendly and a friend. Accomplishing things that scared me. Smiling his ever-present smile, one
that said the world was very clever for remembering to include Jeremy McIntosh
in it, because the world was a better place with him in it, and people were
better for having known him.
I'm certainly glad that I knew him.
Jeremy, you are missed.
