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Old July 24th, 2009, 02:37 PM   #24
michaelfaries
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SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARDFather of BG websites
BattlestarGalactica.com(ret)
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Join Date: May 2001
Location: San Jose, Calif., U.S.A
Posts: 702

Default Re: One of our own is gone

Where does one start?

Steve was an incredibly good-hearted soul, amazing CG artist, a true Warrior and a dear friend.

I talked with members of his family yesterday. As many of you may know, Steve was an intensely private person. But all of them knew about his devotion and passion for the original "Battlestar Galactica." They knew all-too-well how it fueled his hobbies, his artistry and his creativity.

When many of us worked tirelessly to bring Richard Hatch's vision of BSG to fruition (then Bryan Singer & Tom DeSanto's), Steve did more behind the scenes than most know.

Memorable story: While running RichardHatch.com, BattlestarGalactica.com and BattlestarPegasus.com, I had an old clunker of a workstation. Great for coding, good for Photoshop work, but lousy for CG work. (And I squeezed that machine dry to get images for the websites.)

One day, Steve and I were talking on the phone -- and I lamented how painful it was to get CG cranked out. Without any hesitation, Steve offered me his old motherboard/CPU which he'd recently replaced. No cost whatsoever, "what's your mailing address?"

Within a week, he sent it.

Because of him, I was able to uplevel my CG renders for the websites, pump out more imagery, etc. If you knew the technical scope of his work (like Don, Darrell and others did), he always needed a faster machine. The man was a remarkable, devoted talent. And VERY modest and humble.

When his family notified me of his death, I literally choked up, began sobbing like a baby. My eyes are filling full of tears as I type this.

I kept meaning to get myself down to L.A. to see various friends, including Steve. But life has kept me focused on the homefront, particularly with my wife recovering from a serious bout of breast cancer. Steve would joke, "Ah, you don't need to see me! You're too busy!" (To which I would say, "Lunch. Just lunch! I just need to get down to Northridge.")

I'll never forget seeing him stroll into Galacticon back in 2003. His first sci-fi convention. I think he was more astonished he made it there than being astonished about the event itself. hehe

This reminds me PAINFULLY of when I was supposed to interview John Colicos on the day he passed away. One day earlier, we would have had some of John's wit and wonderful stories to treasure, beyond our bereavement of him. I only wish I had one more day to catch up with Steve.

Life is too short. And I may not have enough tears for my feelings of loss for this extraordinary soul. I've shared with his family; I feel such sorrow for his best friend (his sister), his wife Lily, his niece and his other family members.

I really, really miss you, man.

Michael

P.S. With life being too short, feel free to catch up with me on Facebook. Michael Faries - Silicon Valley (California) Hope ALL of you are doing well.
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