RIP Greg McIlvain

Dear Henry and all the fine folks up that way,

I am so sorry to hear about Greg.

I found out from one of our mutual boys the other day, when I got to South Florida.

I'm thinkin' about y'all, about Greg's family, about the lives he touched. Only met him once or twice. But having experienced this on a personal level a few months ago, with my dad's passing, I am understanding it on another level.

TV, Henry, PA, BL, all y'all, God bless.

Thinkin' about you guys.

Jesus

 

I thought the name sounded familiar. I was born and raised in Natchez and worked at the Democrat briefly. Must've run across the name that way. Sorry I never got to know him.

RIP.

 

I went to the funeral today and was pleased at how many people came, mostly friends of Greg's mom. (There was a contingent from the Tupelo paper also, but I didn't get a chance to meet them.) Almost to a person, they all gushed about the article that Valdosta's lifestyle editor, Dean Poling, did this week. In fact, the lady doing the eulogy quoted from it at length.

http://www.valdostadailytimes.com/local/local_story_033235810.html

Granted I'm in a melancholy mood and not the best judge, but I was left feeling hollow about the way they described him. They talked about the fact that he loved sports so much and was able to make a career out of it. And while he did enjoy sports, he was like the rest of us in that his favorite result was a game that ended on time. He cared about telling stories and putting out the best possible product (more so than upper management in Valdosta at the time). And with him gone, very little of that translated over to a "civilian" audience. Even though I'm not in the business anymore, that hurt. And right now it has me questioning a lot of what I do in life.

 

Hack-

Sorry we didn't get to cross paths. Indeed, they packed the house with folks for Greg. I'm sure he would have been surprised at the outpouring, but I wasn't.

 

HH, I ran into Gene Phelps yesterday at the state soccer finals. Gene and I go way, way back, and he was telling me the back story of what happened with Greg. You deserve an extra dose of condolences and prayers for having to go through that.

 

Henry, Gene, TV, BL, PA, all y'all,

I'm real sorry about Greg.

His family's loss, your loss, Mississippi sports journalism's loss.

Thinkin' about y'all down here.

Jesus

 

Thanks for the thoughts.

I keep waiting for all of it to hit me. I'll schedule some time in a week or two.

 

Sooner the better, Henry, if you can. I know, man.