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John Byrne

Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 136921
Posted: 24 August 2026 at 2:50pm | IP Logged | 1 post reply
Now that I am very much in the last chapter of my life, I find myself recalling (not for the first time) a decidedly chilling moment from early in my career.

I’d been in the business about two years when some fan operation published a WHO’S WHO of comic book professionals. Flipping to my own very short entry I found

BYRNE, JOHN (1950-    )

Gulp. Immediately I thought someone is going to fill in that void some day!

And now, quite soon!

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Vinny Valenti
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 17 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 8665
Posted: 24 August 2026 at 3:26pm | IP Logged | 2 post reply
I've wondered about the person who hurriedly updates a celebrity's Wikipedia page upon news of their death.

And The Onion must have, also! LINK
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Brian Miller
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 28 July 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 32200
Posted: 24 August 2026 at 3:33pm | IP Logged | 3 post reply
Well hopefully not QUITE soon!
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John Byrne

Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 136921
Posted: 24 August 2026 at 3:41pm | IP Logged | 4 post reply
Question of definition. Actuarially speaking, I have maybe four years.

Given the crappy shape I am in, I really don’t want more!

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Michael Penn
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 12 April 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 13352
Posted: 24 August 2026 at 5:28pm | IP Logged | 5 post reply
When I was a kid and watched the movie NETWORK, I heard but couldn't truly grasp Bill Holden's line: "All of a sudden it's closer to the end than the beginning, and death is suddenly a perceptible thing to me, with definable features."

Once you get past 50 and the body starts to fail like it never did before, and you have grandkids, and lose at least one parent... 
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Dave Kopperman
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 27 December 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 4138
Posted: 24 August 2026 at 6:25pm | IP Logged | 6 post reply
My Dad passed in 2021, and since he and my stepmom have a dual plot yet she's still with us... I can't imagine how eerie it is to see your name and a blank space on the very headstone under which you'll be interred.
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John Byrne

Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 136921
Posted: 24 August 2026 at 7:14pm | IP Logged | 7 post reply
Once you get past 50 and the body starts to fail like it never did before, and you have grandkids, and lose at least one parent..

•••

I read not too long ago that once we achieve adulthood, there are two points waiting for us during which the aging process kinda jumps. One is at 40, which I didn’t really notice, and the other is at 70, which hit me like Mother Nature saying “Fun times are over “ and flipping a big switch.

Hell, I have been hospitalized three times since October.

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