strangeanimal | Roger Gleason, 1967-2005

Woke up this morning to sad, sad news in my email... Roger Gleason, someone I've known for close to a decade, died yesterday in a car accident.

Rog and I were both in The Zone... a mailing list that started off devoted to "Friends", and grew to something far more special for most of us involved: Roxanne and I met on that list, as well as a few other couples I know... as well as Rog and Shae, his widow.

I only met Roger once, at a get-together in Akron in what was probably '97, but seems like an eternity ago... the fridge at the house where most of the partying was taking place had those Refrigerator Poetry magnets, and Rog and I contributed a few (ok, a bunch of) verses to the mix.

I can't say I knew him that well, to be honest, and definitely nowhere near as well as many of you reading this. But I know he was a good guy, and I know that he enjoyed making people laugh.

And anyone who went out of his way to bring happiness to people... it's a tragedy when someone dies young, and an even bigger tragedy when the world loses someone who loved spreading smiles.