Remembering GTPlanet Member Steve Travis, a.k.a. "FoolKiller"

[boxster233]

Sadly, I never crossed paths with Foolkiller. Based on Jordan's article and the remembrances I'm reading in this thread, I see what an important figure he was in many people's lives here on GTPlanet. While I never met Foolkiller, I know the importance of organ donation. The liver that I received, saving my life on Christmas Day 2008 came from a young man, aged 27, who lost his life on Christmas Eve 2008 in car accident. It was that selfless act, from a man I had never met, that allows me to type these words today.

In the United States, approximately 20 people die each day, waiting for an organ that never comes. Each organ donor can save up to 8 lives! Those 8 saved lives can also be joined by ~50 more lives severely improved from the eyes & tissue donated by that same generous donor. Please...Please consider becoming an organ donor if you aren't already.

Rest well, Foolkiller.

Thanks for sharing ALB! Your post made me re-iterate to my wife that should anything happen to me to make sure, as my driver's license states, that my organs are donated.

 

[Tenacious D]

I did chat on occasion with Steve - hmm, we share first names - and we became sort of net chums for a time. I'll have to peek at my "followers" every once in a while and look at his avatar in remembrance.

Naturally we mostly traded thoughts about Gran Turismo, but it's been a while, and now I know part of the reason. I'm already an organ donor candidate, have been for years, and I won't need them when I'm gone.

Saying goodbye is never fun, but it's only for a while for those of us who believe. Steve was one of those charming guys who tried to say the right things in every situation to make you happy to have been a part of the discussion. We should all try to live lives so vivid and admirable that we leave this kind of legacy with our family, friends and loved ones. Do something to make this world a better, richer, nicer place. Forget who slighted us, who won or didn't win an election, let go of grief and grievance, and make our lives a smile, a candle, a little gift every day, if we can help it. We usually can.

I think it's time to take this life more seriously, and see if I can create something worthwhile of my own, so that one day, someone will read what I write or hear what I've played, and perhaps touch their hearts with a little gleam of my own.

 

[Jordan]

Just to get everyone caught up from the funeral visitation: it was great to finally meet and chat with Steve's wife, Stacy.

I had the opportunity to tell her just how much Steve meant to all of us here, how he inspired so many people without ever meeting them, and how we were doing our best to help support the AHA and organ donation awareness with our memorial fund. It was a very nice visitation service attended by hundreds of people; I particularly enjoyed this display of photos and awards Steve had earned. I snapped a picture because I thought some of you might like to see it, too; it is a wonderful display of a life well-lived. 👍

 

[PARAGON GT]

Wow, what a shame.

I remember seeing him all over the forums back when I was more active.
Always struck me as a good guy.

Sorry to hear of his passing.

 

[MoLiEG]

RIP My condolences to his friends and family

 

[Touring Mars]

I learned a lot from Steve over the years, and not just about topics he knew a great deal about (like libertarianism and the US healthcare system), but also a fair bit about the nature of debate and about listening to alternate points of view that challenge my own preconceived ideas. Steve was eloquent, knowledgable, friendly, polite, honest and often frank - and he could type the hind legs off a donkey when necessary... he certainly didn't shy away from a spirited debate. It would be fair to say that Steve and I didn't agree on a few things in the past, but his contributions over the years have spurred me into learning more about things that hadn't struck me as especially important before, like the role of government and the rights of the individual. Steve clearly felt very strongly about these things as his GTP signature will forever testify to...

As Steve revealed in his 'GTP Member of the Week' interview a few years ago, he was in fact invited by Jordan to become a forum moderator back in 2010, but he turned it down, not least because he had recently become a father and because he had also recently learned that he was facing a heart transplant. As an interesting aside, Steve was also voted by GTP members as 'the member most likely to become a moderator' for three years in a row, including in 2011 after he had already turned an actual invitation down! As was said at the time, we were quite looking forward to seeing FoolKiller live up to his GTP monicker and send some deserving banishment cases packing - but alas, for both better and for worse, Steve had far more important things to be dealing with.

Those times made the difference between being familiar with FoolKiller - the guy from the Opinions forum (that I would usually disagree with) and knowing who Steve really was - the devoted family man, the fundraiser and organ donation advocate, the man who had to reconcile his tremendous health challenges with his desire to work and live a full life - and still be 'that guy' from the Opinions forum. I recall the (short) period that Steve became unemployed and how hard that was for a self-confessed workaholic... this is perhaps the most telling episode for me - not long a parent, and dealing with the fact that a heart transplant was now only a matter of when and not if, Steve had to get back out there and find a job that not only would satisfy his need to do something interesting and challenging, but would also work out with his health issues and family commitments. His attitude and outlook was (and forever will be) humbling, inspiring and truly admirable.

So I'll raise my glass in Steve's honour whenever I have a Woodford Reserve or Maker's Mark - Kentucky's finest deserves nothing less.

 

[Brett]

This was some very rough news to come back to after being away from GTP for some vacation days. I had been somewhat keeping up with the news in hopes of continued improvements. This downturn, while not unexpected, is still surprising. Steve's ability to stay positive and keep up the good fight was inspiring.

I greatly respected Steve. His posts were always crafted with the utmost thought. I always took note of his opinions because they were well reasoned.

GTPlanet, and thus the world, has lost a great one.

 

[Danoff]

@Jordan Is this the right thread for posting some of our favorite @FoolKiller posts? If so, I'll leave this one here:

I had a full time employee on my staff that lived with parents with Alzheimer's. Her productivity didn't drop until I had to lay her off due to the slow economy. She continued working and hiring care workers to help because if she did cut back then she could not afford to continue giving the care. She never once used an FMLA day.

As for my own experience, my wife's grandmother had Alzheimer's before she died and when we got married we moved in to the rental property the family owns next to her house. We still live there now, but when we first moved in there it was because they needed someone that could be able to be there in an instant. We did all her house keeping, lawn care, fixing meals, grocery shopping, and giving medicines. Eventually my wife was giving her baths and getting her dressed for the day. When she fell and broke her hip twice my wife and I were the ones that were there. My mother-in-law was there too, which helped. Both of my wife's uncles only showed up at holidays though.

But through all of it, neither my wife or I used more than our allotted paid time off at work or fell behind in our work. We would put in the extra hours at nights or on the weekend when we had projects with hard due times.


I will admit this is all purely anecdotal and every situation is different. But to lump all cases into a group you determine to be less productive is ridiculous. And to accuse any of them of being "part of the problem" is truly ridiculous when the alternative is likely making the state pay to care for them in a home. Many of those people are making life sacrifices to ensure that your tax dollars aren't spent caring for their elderly family members.

 

[Nismonath5]

Just thought I would share that we at the Car Of The Week club performed a lap of honour for Steve at the request of @McClarenDesign during this week's meet up. We cruised in formation behind a pace car in our cars to pay a personal homage to the man, then topped it off with some burnouts in his name.

Lap of honour

Skids for Steve!

GT Planet has lost one of its greats, and while it's indeed sad to see him go, let's be cheerful for the times we all had with him. Thank you to @RobboGTAddict, @JackRyanWMU, @Draggon, @Vic Reign93, @todally_lit and mitoferrari27 for taking part in the tribute!

 

[Jordan]

Wow. I'm blown away by our fundraiser for Steve. A very generous anonymous donor has made a $500 USD contribution, blasting us through our goal and bringing us to $840 in total. The fundraiser will wrap up at the end of this month, so we still have about week left to hit the big $1,000 mark!

Once again, here's the link: https://www.youcaring.com/americanheartassociation-736578

@Jordan Is this the right thread for posting some of our favorite @FoolKiller posts? If so, I'll leave this one here:

Yep. 👍

As mentioned earlier in this thread, Steve's wife, Stacy, has asked for the community to share their favorite memories and posts of his, so this is a great place to collect them. 👍

 

[Dennisch]

This post/thread should be added.

Father FoolKiller.

 

[DQuaN]

Such sad news. With the new heart I was hoping it would be a start of a new better chapter for him. He will be missed.

Thinking of his family at this difficult time.

 

[Cole Brown]

I really would like to donate 20 to push it to 900 but don't get paid until next Monday unfortunately.

 

[Danoff]

I like this @FoolKiller post.

Look, you have a mistaken view of how we work here and what it actually is. As I keep saying, we do not have capitalism and free markets. You can't have thousands of regulations, bailouts, and kickbacks and call it that.

That said, I have severe health issues. I still work. I qualify for government assistance but have chosen not to accept it. I have to miss a lot of time for doctor appointments and the occasional hospitalization. None of those days have been unpaid during my entire adult career. In fact, this year I have enough extra time and money to take my daughter to Florida for a week at Disney. I am not rich. I am just in the mid-range of middle class. And my out-of-pocket medical expenses cost less than my taxes.

You know what? I want more. I could walk into my boss's office and demand it right now. But I understand the reality of my employer's finances and that it isn't likely to happen. Know what I'm doing about it? Looking for other jobs. I applied for one today (with a charitable institution, for bonus credit) and had a job interview last week.

See, I feel like I deserve more, so I am seeking it out. I am not running to my government to complain about my employer like some child running to his teacher because Billy won't share the ball.

On top of all that, my health will eventually mean I can't physically work. Knowing that, when I am not busy working, volunteering, or parenting I am slowly working on something I hope I can do from home so that I can avoid being on government assistance.

I love my country and fellow man so much that I am doing everything in my power to avoid finding myself in a place where I have to consider having the government force them to help me.

 

[m8h3r]

I nearly forgot until this popped back up on my watched threads but I just donated. 👍 Again RIP Steve.

 

[xyloscissor]

It is hard to browse some threads and not notice his absence, I keep thinking he is going to pipe in and all that. Always a welcomed insight that I will no longer see.

The support for his cause and family is really cool 👍

 

[Northstar]

I keep thinking he is going to pipe in and all that.

It doesn't help when you have people like @RACECAR using his avatar. I don't have a problem with it but it makes me take a second look and than I remember that he's still gone.

 

[RACECAR]

It doesn't help when you have people like @RACECAR using his avatar. I don't have a problem with it but it makes me take a second look and than I remember that he's still gone.

I do apologize for that. I know you don't have an issue, but the last thing I want to do is make this harder for people and really, its been on longer then it should've. I'll remove it.

 

[W3H5]

I think it's nice that some members use the FoolKiller avatar in memory of Steve. It is odd getting on to a topic in the Infield and expecting FK to weigh in with a lofty post in detail about his stance on it, and then it just isn't there.

 

[Eh Team]

From an Infield thread I've been wading through because it's just so good.

You know how you deal with an asinine popular thing? You make fun of it. It is why I never relent on hipster jokes.

FK, you win, hands down.

 

[JKgo]

...Well, damn. I only interacted with @FoolKiller occasionally in the TV & Movie thread but he seemed like an affable, sociable guy. What a loss his passing is. And a bit cruel too, considering that he had received a new heart recently.

...

.......

Well, now I'm really depressed.

 

[DLR_Mysterion]

I only knew him from the Opinions and Current events forum and I found he debated firm but always fairly. A proper old school gent and I'll miss reading his opinions on issues a great deal.

 

[Keef]

I just now learned of Steve's passing reading through the Infield threads. Damn. I spent a lot of time debating with him and learning about the ideas that define who I've become ten years later. It's pretty wild what changes when you return from time away.

I've had a couple big losses too and I always hope nobody ever has to deal with that, but it's going to happen to all of us. All you can do is try to enjoy as much of life as you can experience. And if you lost somebody and feel like you missed opportunities along the way, keep that in mind as you interact with people in the future and try to make more of your time together. As long as you're trying to be a good and happy person, and helping others do the same, then you've got nothing to worry about. Just keep having fun because you never number when your number will be called.

 

[polysmut]

@Beeblebrox237 & @S_Bridge drinking Kentucky drinks for a Kentucky man.

 

[Danoff]

Funny you should post here. I was just thinking about Steve today.

 

[W3H5]

Funny you should post here. I was just thinking about Steve today.

I was yesterday. I do often.

 

[BobK]

I was yesterday. I do often.

I suspect a lot of us do. I know I do.

 

[Keef]

I think it's pretty wild how a single person on the internet can influence a person's world view so thoroughly. Most of how I conduct myself is based on the philosophies that Steve discussed and I had to think way too hard about.

 

[Furinkazen]

Having been away from GTP for sometime I never noticed this news. My condolences to his family, and all who knew him. A shame for everyone. RIP.

 

[photonrider]

I miss you, Steve. Literally.

I was devastated when I read you had a change of heart, for as unpopular as my opinion would be, to me it was the beginning of your end. No heart was as strong as yours. You met every challenge it gave you with the kind of mucho that fools, who breed faster than rabbits these days, would give their souls for - and a bargain it would be. You inspired me no end. My long conversations with you in the Gardening Thread plotting our campaigns against vermin or relishing our harvests, my complicated discourses with you battling over the Constitution or its Amendments in the America Thread, my agreements and disagreements over Gun Control, or Religion, or the latest massacre of innocents were all tempered by my awe of your courage in letting no mountain remain unclimbed. Your unswerving love and dedication to your family was a beacon to all of us who maintained families.

And through it all you remained a benchmark for what a gentleman should be; firm, compassionate, tolerant, always dignified and reasonable in your responses, and intelligent beyond imagination - every new conversation with you unwrapping a new layer of your acute perception.

You were special to GTPlanet, and this community is not the same without you - this thread itself, and all the glowing posts in here, speak volumes about who you were to all of us who had the luck to meet up with you, to share the life you shared unconditionally with us, and to thrive in the shadow of your luminescence.

But because of that, your spirit lives on, lives on in every post you have made, and I have to deny your demise, only considering that it is a short hiatus, and that in some moment in eternity I will have the chance to knock glasses with you in another time, another place, another awareness of time and space - with joy, asking what your pleasure would be.

So with that, FK - in the spirit of yanking your chain in the way I would do hoping for an ironic chuckle - Jack or Jim?

Not Goodbye, my friend, but farewell for now.