Patrick Reed: 1979-2009

Furp at Dorsai Thing 31

Furp eyes one his many drink mixes.

I'm sure folks have heard the news by now, but Furp (evil_dwagon on LJ) passed away in an auto accident last night, thanks to a drunk driver.

I first met Furp back in 2003 or so, when unclekage felt that he would be a good addition to Con Ops. That totally turned out to be the case. He worked hard, and partied harder when the work was done.

Furp didn't just work Anthrocon, he worked other cons, and not always in an official capacity either. Furp was an EMT, and if there was ever a crisis situation, he would attend to it. I know more than once he spent the night in an emergency room with a convention attendee who had fallen ill, whether that person was a stranger or not.

Furp was also one of the most relaxed and good natured guys I know. I guess it comes with the territory when you're an EMT. Having worked my share of security incidents with him over the years, he was usually the calmest person in the room.

Believe it or not, I didn't initially hear of Furp's passing from furries, but from the other Dorsai Irregulars. Furp was loved by the DI, in fact some of our folks referred to working with Furp as a "highlight of Anthrocon". While Furp was never inducted into the DI, he is definitely "one of us", and I believe his induction was only a matter of time. Sadly, that will never happen now.

Con Ops won't be the same without you, Furp.

Have stories or photos of Furp?

bluedeer is visiting Furp's parents tonight. Feel free to share them in his LJ comments before then.

There is news coverage of the accident:

http://www.insidesocal.com/news247/2009/02/motorcyclist-killed-in-twentyn.html

(Newspaper got the age wrong. He was really 33.) [Edit: Nevermind, *I* got it wrong. Must have been something in my eye when I looked up his birth date...]

If anyone wishes to send anything to his parents, here's the address (courtesy of bluedeer):

The Reeds
5050 S Egofske Rd
New Berlin, WI 53146-4001

"furp" tag on Delicious

Since nobody was really using it, I decided to start tagging relevant items as "furp" on the Delicious bookmarking service:


http://delicious.com/tag/furp (And an RSS Feed, too)


If you are on Delicious (and if you're not, it's free!), feel free to tag anything that pertains to Furp with that tag. I know Furp has been active in the fandom and there are many stories about him from over the years. I sure would love to read some of those stories. :-)


On a related note, I have already been approached by some folks asking about the identity of the Marine who did this. I appreciate the concern and the desire for retribution, but please -- let's give the legal system a chance to do its thing. Right now, our energy is best spent being there for each other, as well as his family.

Thanks.