With a couple days now between us and the news that Larry has passed, I wanted to take the chance to say a few words.
I first met Larry at Big Hollywood. That was the first political blog I ever got involved with and I started participating there because something had gone wrong with conservatism, and that seemed like the place to start fixing it. It didn't take long for Larry and I to bump into each other. Soon we were having a grand time adding what humor and insight we could, combating trolls and getting to know many of you.
After a while we realized that we needed to create our own place so we could talk about issues that BH didn't cover. So we created Commentarama. Over the next three plus years, we set out to enlighten, to explain and to befriend our fellow conservatives, and in the process we found all of you, whom we consider friends. I'm not sure people realize how much work these articles are or how much time this blog consumes, but Larry tirelessly turned in his articles every single day. He often told me that despite the heavy commitment, he kept going because blogging made him very happy. He loved speaking his mind and he loved hearing from each of you.
In my time blogging with Larry, I always found him to be bright, funny and friendly. He was a strongly principled man with a deep reservoir of wisdom who was always up for a debate and always open to new ideas. He was also a great friend. Over the years, Larry and I had hundreds of long conversations most of you never saw about various issues, about our hopes for the future, and about the things we loved about this country. He loved his friends, his family, Niko his dog, his new home, and all of you. And he loved the idea that we were changing the world, one article at a time.
The world will miss you, Larry.
Rest in peace.
I first met Larry at Big Hollywood. That was the first political blog I ever got involved with and I started participating there because something had gone wrong with conservatism, and that seemed like the place to start fixing it. It didn't take long for Larry and I to bump into each other. Soon we were having a grand time adding what humor and insight we could, combating trolls and getting to know many of you.
After a while we realized that we needed to create our own place so we could talk about issues that BH didn't cover. So we created Commentarama. Over the next three plus years, we set out to enlighten, to explain and to befriend our fellow conservatives, and in the process we found all of you, whom we consider friends. I'm not sure people realize how much work these articles are or how much time this blog consumes, but Larry tirelessly turned in his articles every single day. He often told me that despite the heavy commitment, he kept going because blogging made him very happy. He loved speaking his mind and he loved hearing from each of you.
In my time blogging with Larry, I always found him to be bright, funny and friendly. He was a strongly principled man with a deep reservoir of wisdom who was always up for a debate and always open to new ideas. He was also a great friend. Over the years, Larry and I had hundreds of long conversations most of you never saw about various issues, about our hopes for the future, and about the things we loved about this country. He loved his friends, his family, Niko his dog, his new home, and all of you. And he loved the idea that we were changing the world, one article at a time.
The world will miss you, Larry.
Rest in peace.
Andrew, What a nice memory of Larry that you shared with us. Thank you for doing this. Like you, Big Hollywood was the first political blog I participated in as well.
ReplyDeleteI still remember hearing Rush mention the launch of Big Hollywood, and since he really talked it up, I had to check it out. I didn't read everything, and really enjoyed the videos from Alfonzo Rachel, and Steven Crowder.
I would comment once in a while, most of which were largely ignored (no surprise there) except by LawHawk, and an occasional troll. I also remember Bev, Andrew (who could forget that avatar! LOL!), and a few others. There were times I laughed so hard that I had tears in my eyes, and my stomach hurt. I do recall a time when LawHawk was beating up on a troll. The only thing I could say was: "Attaboy LawhawkSF, you tell 'em!!! We don't need any of them little punks anyway. They just think they are going to distract us (like the current administration thinks it can do), and knock us off balance, but, we have our eyes on the ball." He replied with: "Yeah. You don't have to be old to recognize a punk when you see one, but it helps." I stuck around for about a year and a half, but things had gotten a little out of hand, so I decided to leave--it was no longer enjoyable.
With the passing of Andrew Breitbart, the first thought that came to my mind was I wondered what LawHawk had to say about it. I went to BH, but found no activity. I checked a few other things out, but no luck. Then, I remembered that I save emails, and searched for some that had been sent by BH whenever my comment had a reply. I found the replies from LawHawk, and hoped that there was a link to click on. I think it went to IntenseDebate, but no recent activity there either. I thought something bad had happened to him. I must have clicked on his profile, and that's when I found Commentarama listed.
I went to Commentarama, and decided to send an email with the subject "attn: LHRFD". My message got missed initially, but finally there was a reply a few weeks later. We had a few exchanges, and Larry told me about where he had moved to, and how much he enjoyed it. He also talked about his family.
So now, here I am. In a nutshell, it was: Rush-->BigHollywood-->LawHawk-->Commentarama-->everyone else. Thanks for the memories Larry, you will be missed!
I always felt like Lawhawk was the father figure for all of us here. He had a rebellious and wild streak which gave him great insight and wisdom to share with us. He had a way of both sparking a good debate and putting out verbal fires. May he rest in peace. He will be missed, for sure.
ReplyDelete(Sigh), I didn't know him the way that you did, those of us who read his blog felt some of who he was and were made better by it.
ReplyDeletea nice and fitting tribute to Larry. Hawk and I had plenty in common (insurance) and being children of the 60's. As such, we could share a lot of cultural vantage points. It is interesting how you can become "virtual" friends on-line and these can be just as gratifying as live and in person relationships. The only thing I could compare it to is the old pen pal days of yore. The other point is, even though we may physically cease to exist, the legacy we leave goes on and on. Long live the Hawk.
ReplyDeleteI too bumped into you guys on BH, early on, when I read Gary Graham’s article, “One Pissed off Dude.” It was my first venture into the blogosphere, and was most happy to find fellow conservative travelers. I always relished running into you guys as you seemed to enjoy toying with a Trotsky as much as I did…great fun. If you wanted to get Lawhawks ire up, mention Janeane Garafalo, oh my goodness, his head would explode. That was as close to real anger that I ever saw out of LH. In most cases, he was the true Happy Warrior. His stories about San Francisco and California were wonderful and historic, and the ‘60s in general. He came to the South, and protested civil rights, the dude attended the Monterey Pop Festival, man that’s legendary. Reagan was his governor twice, jealousy for this Southern boy. His love of his kids and grandchildren knew no bounds, and his Lutheran faith was always apparent in his writings. He could whip out biblical verses with familiar ease, or Latin to punctuate a point, and I would imagine in person pictures of his large family. Though I never met Lawhawk, or spoke with him, I will truly miss his informed writing, his witty prose, as he drove the dagger home time and again. Though I’m not particularly religious guy, Hawk was, and I feel certain that he is now in heaven cheering us on, as we prepare to fix the mistake of ’08, something he cared about, greatly. May God bless him and his family, and may peace soon be found in the solace of this fine mans memory, as we all know, the personal anguish of loss. RIP Lawhawk, there is genuine sorrow with this son of the South, we’ll keep the faith.
ReplyDeleteWow. I have nothing to add but tears. Which are notoriously hard to send electronically. lol I'm glad I got to know Larry even thought it was only in a small way. It's a strange new world in which I can miss a man I never met in person. I guess a smaller world means we all leave larger holes when we go.
ReplyDeleteWhat a moving article.
ReplyDeleteAs I've said before, finding BH and then encountering the wit and wisdom of Andrew and LawHawk (and then Bev, Jed, and the rest of the old guard) was one of the pivotal events of my "political" life, such as it is. I posted some, then about a year after Commentarama started, I found the link and made my way over here, just read the articles for a while, and then started commenting. I was so pleased that both remembered me and made me feel right at home.
There's not a lot I can say personally about Mr. Hawk. I loved his faith, his humor, and his singular decency as a person. He will be greatly missed. All I can add is this clip from LOTR: The Return of the King. Having now had a couple of personal losses this year, thinking of this short exchange has made me feel a lot better: LINK
Once more, Godspeed sir.
Several of you have mentioned how close you can get to someone you never met through cyberspace and I too find that amazing. It's really a strange thought that almost none of us has ever met and yet we seem to know each other so well. Larry was certainly one of those people. And the strange thing is how hard it is to believe he's gone. I really do expect him to start responding to comments at any moment!
ReplyDeleteThanks for that tribute, Andrew. I also noticed y'all at BH - often agreed, sometimes disagreed, but always thoughtful. Then y'all mentioned starting this up. I'm honestly not sure how soon afterward I made my way here, but it's been a while. I have enjoyed the camaraderie, the intellectual stimulation, the cutting up, and the intensity that LawHawk added to this site and my political world. While we had all discussed the word(s) that we should use to describe the Commentarama cyber-relationship, the news of his death cemented the idea that "friend" was the right word for me. I attended a funeral today, and I thought of him and his family also...
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your passion and perspective, LawHawk; you will be deeply missed.
I did not know Lawhawk (Larry) except through his exchanges on Big Hollywood and here at Commentarama. Now that he is gone it's funny becuase you have to ask yourself what will I miss.
ReplyDeleteWhat I will miss is his articles, his insight, the research he put into them and the growth of understanding gained from that. It's funny but in that realm it truely is a loss. Not being able to come here and find out about obscure law professors in California or arcane legal questions in a local town and the explanantion of how these events had meaning to the philisophical view points of the people running the country really will be a great loss.
His humor, the way he made freinds so easily that will be missed too but eventually over time that loss will fade as you go out in life. It takes longer for people you knew better.
But there is one thing that will always be missed and that will be Lawhawk's take on things. How he saw it and what he saw that the rest of us missed. That can't be replaced.
Larry was one of those guys you could go to in order to get good solid advice on anything. The world, our World, is lessened for his leaving but we know that Heaven will be just that much better to have him.
RIP Lawhawk
Like many of you, I met LawHawk, Andrew and many of you on Big Hollywood in January of 2009. What fun and what a revelation to find conservatives on an entertainment industry related website! When LawHawk and Andrew asked me to contribute to their new blog, I was honored and thrilled. And I was particularly thrilled to compete with LawHawk on who lived in the craziest city/state.
ReplyDeleteI realized that I have communicated with LawHawk almost every day for 3 1/2 years, but we never met in person, I have no idea what he sounded like, or even what he looked like. Yet I miss him as if he were in the room with me. What a strange, new 21st Century feeling of loss.
Like Andrew, I keep expecting him to post a comment that it was all just a big misunderstanding. I feel privileged to have known him and for him to share his insights and wonderfully clear ideas for a better world. I will miss you and we are all better for knowing you.
It really is amazing how people you never met can come to seem so real. I guess this answers the question of whether or not relationships built on the internet are real?
ReplyDeleteRIP LawHawk
I met Law and Andrew through BH as well, and have been enriched through their friendship.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first started my interaction with Law, he was always kind and generous. I loved that he had converted from a 60's radical to an engaged conservative. When he told stories from his activist years, I listened. His wisdom was well-won and I remember on several occasions thanking God he was on our side now.
I cried when I learned of his passing. He was an example of standing your ground and knowing your cause enough to defend it. I considered him a teacher, an equal, a friend.
I'll never forget him. I like to think that we'll each keep a little bit of him with us.
RIP, brother.
Oh man. Thanks for that great tribute, Andrew and thanks to my fellow Commenterama commenters for yours.
ReplyDeleteI'm in complete agreement with your takes on LawHawk and I'll miss him.
I pray for his family because they are, no doubt grieving.
Godspeed, Larry.
I believe virtual friendship is as real as in person. Otherwise, I wouldn't have something in both my eyes.
I just knew him through this Commentarama but Lawhawk struck me as intelligent, honest and dedicated
ReplyDeleteLike others, I found Andrew and Lawhawk through BH and was glad to find that they had started their own blog together, as BH had gotten to be too much for me at the time. Even though I don't always comment, I read every article, and have used them as talking points when discussing politics with others. I will miss Lawhawks candidness and his well researched and written articles.
ReplyDeleteRIP LawHawk
Larry made the world a better place and now Heaven has gained one of the most brilliant minds. No doubt he is already shaking things up in Heaven. I'll miss you, LawHawk.
ReplyDelete