John Finnegan - The Best of Us All - Rest in Peace

On the day it was printed, I posted John's obituary from the Pocono Record on the bulletin board above my desk, so I see him smiling down at me every morning when I show up.

I have been thinking about him a lot again lately as we plan for our first really big "national" event at the new Faire Play site. John was excited about the possibilities and was really looking forward to writing and running the event.

I am happy that people are keeping this thread going.
 
Fearless Leader said:
On the day it was printed, I posted John's obituary from the Pocono Record on the bulletin board above my desk, so I see him smiling down at me every morning when I show up.
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I'm glad I'm not the only one who did that. He's just beyond the top of my laptop - always in the corner of my eye.
 
Ezri said:
Fearless Leader said:
On the day it was printed, I posted John's obituary from the Pocono Record on the bulletin board above my desk, so I see him smiling down at me every morning when I show up.
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I'm glad I'm not the only one who did that. He's just beyond the top of my laptop - always in the corner of my eye.
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You guys are definitely not the only ones. I didn't post his obituary, but I did hang up a picture taken of John dancing at my wedding. Even today, I was having a truly crappy day, but when I left, I saw the picture and had the one smile that I've managed to muster up today.

Kathy
 
A few of us went to visit this place called Peddlers Village the other day. (It's a cute shopping area) When I was in one of the stores I saw this stand of necklaces with little animal charms on them. I think it was a Noah's Ark type thing. Anyway, they had this one with an elephant and I just had to buy it. I suppose every couple has their little funny moments or sayings with each other. Whenever John would do something that was either icky or made me angry, he would say in a childlike voice, "it wasn't me, it was the little elephant." It always made me laugh and I couldn't stay angry very long.

Every morning I wake up and it hits me all over again. The pain becomes unbearable at times. I miss him more then anything but I'm finding that remembering his goofyness makes me laugh and helps get me through it. John had a knack for knowing how to make me laugh. Whether he was using funny voices or dancing the "Finnegan bop", he always could put a smile on my face.

One of my favorite moments at Nero to remember is John and Justin H playing these rival chefs. The two of them got into a wrestling match that I so wish I had on video. I still can't stop laughing out loud when I think of it.
 
Personally, I took the "Definition of Awesome" picture someone posted, added my poem to the corner and use it as my wallpaper for my laptop. That way no matter how far away I go, I always take John with me. I hope it helps everyone else to think that about John, because I do. No matter where I go in life, no matter how far I will carry a piece of John in my heart. That is the impact that he had, and continues to have on all of us. I am so happy to hear other people fell the same way as I do.

Michael Manning
 
I'm glad I did it. It took me almost an hour of going through pics in the NJ site to find that one.

I was in a WoW raid when I got the news. I spent the rest fo the night telling stories about the greatness that was JTF to 24 other people from all over the country. I think they are all better for it.

I only really got to see him for one weekend a year. But, every time I saw him it was like we had just hung out the weekend before. I'm sad to think that the next time I walk into the NJ Monster Camp it wont be to see his smiling face and to hear him call me a jackass and hand me a stat card.

Colleen... you are in my thoughts and prayers.

Stephen
 
*nods* The day it happened, I linked this thread for my guild to read. Many of them took the time to read about a man they never met and were touched by our posts. Even in death, he still touches people.
 
Hi Guys,
It's almost 2 months and I still can't believe it. When I drive to and from work everyday my mind tends to wander a bit ( maybe it shouldn't going 70 on a highway), but I have these cute thoughts of John creep in from time to time. The time he came in as a merchant in the tavern and was selling the stupidest things like spatulas and kitchen stuff, and they turned out to be ungodly magic items. The Johh Finnegan "bop" in the middle of a hold to keep us laughing. His booming voice in the tavern as dimsdale as he yelled " Make way for the Duke!" The party we had at Jekyll and Hyde's for Mike's birthday. The good morning crunchie to get us out of bed. When he stuck up for the Unicorns when we made fun of every nobel in our puppet show and uttered those famous words " It's comedy! Not mockery! ". The way his face would light up sometimes when we would try to make Azura break character and finally got her.
I know everyday must be getting a little better for you Colleen, but we will always be here for you keeping John's spirit alive. We love you and think of you often.

Barbara Dufour
formally Kiren of the Order of the Black Unicorns
 
tigstoo said:
The time he came in as a merchant in the tavern and was selling the stupidest things like spatulas and kitchen stuff, and they turned out to be ungodly magic items.
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The was one of my earliest events. I was playing my barbarian, Draugr, and sitting with Ator at that auction. After every item, when people were hardly bidding, John kept saying "Each and every item GUARANTEED to put a smile on your face by the end of the auction". It either meant they were magic or everything was going to hit us with a Laugh effect. I managed to talk Ator into buying some stuff: the spatula, a turkey baster, a mixing spoon and whatever else. That spoon became the Thunder Spoon in Ator's hands and he would bop people on the head with it if they were being too silly or insulted him in some way. That little auction, which probably took less than 1/2 hour to run, gave us entertainment for the rest of the event. We owe that all to John. A little kernel of an idea from him expanded exponentially once he got it in-game.

The first NJ event this year is in a few weeks. I'll be pouring every thing I have into my character for that event. It's what John would be doing from monster camp.
 
I hadn't commented up until this point, but I certainly wanted to let John's friends and family know how he changed my life - if even in a subtle way.

John was someone I looked up to and respected a great deal, both in-game and out-of-game. He was an amazingly talented individual and the world lost someone incredibly special.

In terms of the Alliance and LARPing in general, I won't forget the fun times and stories everyone shared in the yurt at 3am after a long day in New Jersey, Creepshow and his crazy antics, John's ability to make me (and everyone) laugh at random times.. During events, John made everyone feel at home and made everyone feel like they were part of something special. Many times, he took the time out of his hectic schedule to explain rules, roleplaying and the general plotline of the weekend to new players (who were NPCing!) who would have easily been confused. He made veterans and new players alike feel great about the game. His joy and enthusiasm was refreshing.

One of the greatest moments I'll remember was when I went on a module (The Whodunnit) in New Jersey. I was still fairly shy (OOG and IG) at this point and the hook (played by John) made it absolutely clear that everyone had to participate. We were sitting there and I was listening to everyone else attempt to figure out the mystery and he called on me to ask a question. I was a bit taken back by the "cloaked figure" behind the scenes demanding I participate. I asked my question and I instantly felt less confined. He may not have had me specifically in mind when he "forced" everyone partcipate, but it was definitely a huge confidence builder. As crazy as my story may sound, John succeeded in getting me "out of my shell" quite a bit. I forced myself to be a more active participant while at NERO/Alliance events. It was a huge help for me, both in-game and out-of-game.

It may be somewhat of a "lame" story, but it changed who I am. I consider myself to be more outgoing than I was before I started attending events. It was a great way for me to come out of my shell and John had a large hand in that.

So, I wanted to show my appreciation and thanks to John, for being who he was.

He was an amazing person and I will certainly miss him.
 
So the first NJ event of the season (ha one of two, I make it sound like we have a season) is almost upon us... Brian, Justin (and myself with some help from Jen, George and Shane) managed to get most of the writing for the event done... on time! And all I could think of was John in the background going, finally.

Its been so painful writing and knowing that we wont hear his comments, his feedback, him telling us were ********, or how much he liked something. But somehow even in this darkness, I think we wrote our best stuff. Because of John. For John.

I miss him. I miss calling him, talking to him. Telling him the good the bad and the ugly of life and him telling me his woes, and both of us agreeing that even though it sucketh, there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Then we would talk about plot, nero and props. OMG Props. All I can remember is him constantly telling me "Erica, I need props. I cannot run a Barbarian weekend with just dresses".

I remember when NeroNJ could fit into my Kia. Now AllianceNJ took 5 trips in a 7 passenger van to get to the site. O.O How the hell did I get so much ****? And then I think of John, and how motivated I was to have the best props for HIM. So he would be happy.

It seems so impossible to run Nero without him, but then I realize, were not doing it without him, were doing it for him. To honor him, everything he taught us, everything he trained us for, and to keep the magic he fought so hard to create ... alive.

This one, and every other one is for you John. We love you. We miss you. We will always do our best to keep your magic alive.

With enormous love

Erica
Alliance NJ
 
I'm going to the event this weekend to run some plot I wrote and to generally NPC.

This is going to be difficult for me, so forgive me (to those in MONSTER CAMP) if, at times, I'm a bit weird (and not my usually weird self, mind you), because I've never ran plot without John T Finnegan there (sure, there was that one event where he didn't attend, but he was alive and I could discuss it with him before hand and after ). This will be the first plot I have ever written that I didn't share with John, first, the first that I have written since his death.

Since John's passing, I have had a LARP writer's block. It was a real struggle just to squeeze 4 encounters from my brain.

And though I understand the inevitability of (and need) moving on past his death...there will never be that same joy again at a LARP EVENT for me...to go forth from monster camp and run one of my plot encounters and then come back and talk about it with John...whether the encounter was a success or it bombed...John was the first person I sort out upon returning from running my encounters. We had so much fun, laughing about and planning a new goofball character(s) that I would come up with.

I have none of that now.

Thus, this weekend, I will experience the loss of my brother on a whole new level.

Thanks for "listening",

--Patrick Von Raven
 
I hear ya buddy. I understand because I feel the exact same way. I loved talking plot with John, it was like he spoke my language.

I've been pulling my hair out and getting really nervous; something I never used to do, because I knew that no matter what happened: Ol'Johny-Boy would find a way to make it fun for everyone. It's gonna be really weird not having him there laughing and cracking jokes.

I don't have his singing voice, so we are gonna miss out on the NPC-wake-up songs. There is a hundred little things like that, that I am gonna miss.

This next event is for you JTF. If you're out there watching: I hope that you enjoy it.

-Brian
 
ed
Air Raksa said:
I hear ya buddy. I understand because I feel the exact same way. I loved talking plot with John, it was like he spoke my language.

I've been pulling my hair out and getting really nervous; something I never used to do, because I knew that no matter what happened: Ol'Johny-Boy would find a way to make it fun for everyone.
-Brian
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We'll do it together, Brian. Now and down the path of our future. That's what a team truly does: triumph or fail together.

If we have to shed some tears, so be it, but we'll grieve, then bite down and make sure that we do our best to see that people are having fun. That's the sacred duty of a Plot person.

A plot person, the right kind in my experience at least, is that selfless person...they are the ones who strive to serve in the capacity of an entertainer. That's why they break their backs writing and writing (some times to the wee hours of the morning just before an event) or building or acquiring the perfect props because they want to get it just right.

And why? They don't get paid...in fact, they volunteer! So why? Because, in their hearts exists that noble purpose: to entertain. For when you suceed, a player's simple comment of, "Thanks, I had a good time," leaves you with a glowing reward within, a satisfaction that exists on the highest and purest spiritual level.

John Finnegan understood that all too well and it showed in how he gave his ALL for this game.

And during the sad and difficult times when I could only stare at the blank white screen of my MS WORD document through the warped lens of my tears, panicked that I could not bring forth what, prior to John's death, came so easily, I thought of John's passion for the game and my own love of entertaining and I pressed on.

It wasn't easy and while it wasn't quite enough the break the creative dam in my mind, it was enough to crack it, so that the inspirational stream began to flow, if not flood as it did in the days before.

So, Brian, we'll take our tears, our grief and turn into the best damn memorial we can give John.

Let's do this!
 
Von Raven said:
And why? They don't get paid...in fact, they volunteer!
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We do get paid, actually. I consider the compliments as payment, since they last far longer than any money I've ever gotten. I'm definitely a richer person because of them. I still remember the best compliment I've ever received in LARP'ing: "that was like being in the middle of my favorite story." That was probably 8 or so years ago. It still in the pockets of my head, while the dollars that I had in my pocket at the beginning of the event are long gone.

This weekend I roleplayed for the first time in close to 5 years. At the end of my first encounter, as the NPC's were heading back to camp, someone said "Kathy, you're awesome." I can't tell you how much good it did for my soul to hear that. My head didn't get any bigger, 'cuz I know that all things are relative. But it's nice to know some small effort on my part has made others happy.

I've never been on Plot, and I don't tend to write any; I leave that to far more creative minds than mine. To me, there's nothing better than bringing their writing to life. Actually BEING those people/creature/things to all these other people.

I think John would be very proud of everyone who remembers that the goal of being on the "other side" is to make those who are playing feel sexy, or scared, or sad, or.... Hell, just to make them FEEL something when they are in the moment.

I don't know how many events I will be able to make, but I look forward to helping bring more of your ideas to life.

Thanks for the fun,
Kathy
 
kathyrosen said:
I think John would be very proud of everyone who remembers that the goal of being on the "other side" is to make those who are playing feel sexy, or scared, or sad, or.... Hell, just to make them FEEL something when they are in the moment. Thanks for the fun,
Kathy
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Well said! :D
 
I can say that I know in my heart that John was Smiling this weekend..I know that because of the beautiful weather he made sure we had.The amazing job that the NJ staff and all the NPC's did in his honor could not have been better. And that NJ will keep his spirit alive in in the same way how John weaved stories and made sure all players had fun. Patrick, Justin, Erica Brian you channeled John and I know that you will keep his spirit alive in NJ. John we miss you but I feel you in spirit.

Onitt
 
I don't remember John ever mentioning being a fan of basketball, but I couldn't help thinking about him yesterday during Game 6 of the playoffs. 17 was a magic number for the Celtics. This was their 17th championship, being played on the 17th. The Boston connection coupled with the date of the 17th (has it been 3 months already?) really hit home. I would have been happy with Boston winning in general, but this makes me even happier. I doubt that makes any sense, but I guess that doesn't really matter.

I still miss you my friend.

All my love to friends and family,
Kathy
 
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