The Way of the Editor:

A Death in the Family

In memoriam of John Simpson: customer, contributor, and friend.

John Simpson passed away last night.

Many of you may not have known him, but if you had, you would have wanted to. Some of you may have met him in passing, and if you stopped long enough to chat, you would know that he is—was—one of the friendliest, gentlest people you could ever meet. To those of us who miss him, and miss him terribly, he was always a smiling, beaming respite from our regular work hours; a pink-nosed, red-cheeked, jolly six foot tall spirit always ready to cheer you up with a self-deprecating joke or even more precious yet—quiet minutes of his attentive sympathy. John was diagnosed with terminal cancer in late 2004. Despite running short on his own life, he somehow found the time to listen to ours.

I first met John three years ago at the San Diego Comic Con, also my first year at Human Computing. Regular as clockwork every year, he was always present and ready at set-up and tear-down to lend a hand and offer a smile. John’s smiles had an infectious quality. They started at the eyes and pulled on the corners of his cheeks and chin until his entire face was open and beaming, and his round belly would bob with laughter as if saying, “Yes, yes, yes!” nodding for you to smile along. I’ve never known him not to smile, even when he was in pain, and even when his days were at his worst. Comic Con 2007 was the last time I saw John Simpson smile in person. We knew his time was coming, and yet he would always, always smile.

John shared his generous nature with the world in other ways as well. John readily shared his passion of comics and knowledge of all things ComicBase with anyone who asked. He offered opinions and advice on the forums as johnmsjr. His contributions to the database—even before the current correction submission system—were numerous and extended years. His name was on the Top Ten Billboard, and still is in the Top 100. Although we now know why his score had slipped in the past few months, he’ll always be in the Top 10 of our hearts.

I know he would have loved to be remember in comics, and so it’s appropriate that John made his final farewell through his memories of a life in comics. (See Pete’s blog on “John Simpson: 1956–2007”.) It’s going to feel pretty empty next year when we go looking around the corners of the booths of Comic Con, knowing that his white domed head will not be there to round it. There will be no visits from him between panels, no cheerful greetings, no offers to help setup or tear down, no sly showing off of his latest comics acquisition. There will be no smiles and no quiet listening, no jolly laughter and self-deprecating jokes. There will be no new memories, only memoriams. Because next year, and the year after, and all the years after that, John Simpson will no longer be coming to Comic Con.

Rest in peace, John. We miss you.