Monthly Archive for October, 2008

So long Tarthos

Published on October 14, 2008 in FASA. 2 Comments

The following post is from Lulu.

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Tonight, October 13, 2008, around 7:00 pm, Steve “Tarthos” Greenbaum passed away after a long, painful battle with brain cancer.

His wife Linda called me about 9:45 pm to give me the bad news. Many of you gamed with Tarthos during the beta, and you know what a truly wonderful man he was. He was always fun to play and just an all around nice guy.

I was lucky enough to actually get to meet him for a day last year when he and his wife swung by my house on their way home back to PA from a recent road trip they’d been on. They didn’t get to stay long, only a few hours, but it was a wonderful few hours. We sat and talked like we’d known each other forever and had a really good time.

Although neither of us have had much time for gaming lately, we’ve still kept in contact via Xbox.com sending messages through our friends list, messages on IM or on the telephone. I had just talked to him about a month and a half ago and he sounded great, said he felt great, everything was going good….then…bang, it hit him…hard. You never realize how fragile life is, or how important it is to keep in touch with your friends until something horrible happens.

I’m so glad I was able to keep in contact with Steve and that he knew how much I loved him before he passed away.

Once I found out he was extremely ill I started calling every day and was able to talk to him a few times till he got too sick to be able to speak. We talked about “the good ol’ days” of beta testing Shadowrun, and how much fun he had, and how much he loved all his beta buddies and missed them. His wife said every time someone mentioned any of us too him he smiled, even when he couldn’t speak any more. The thought of his beta friends made him happy even in the end and that speaks volumes about how you don’t have to “meet” someone to make a connection, sometimes just being a decent human being, if even from a distance, is enough to make a lasting impression. Steve was smart, he was funny and it didn’t matter what kind of mood I was in, he could always make me laugh. I’m not glad Steve is gone, but I am glad his suffering is over because he didn’t deserve to suffer the way he did.

I’ve been passing on the well wishes I’ve gotten from everyone to his wife and she greatly appreciates it. She know’s how much we all meant to him and it makes her happy to know the he meant just as much too us. For all of you that have donated money to buy a graveside bench for Steve’s grave, I greatly appreciate it. I know times are tight right now for everyone and that makes the donations we’ve gotten even more special. I want to thank Bryan (bry4) for the idea of getting the bench and for organizing that effort and starting a special PayPal account especially for it, that’s a lot to take on and I appreciate it. I also want to thank Eric (EA) for posting about Tarthos in his blog so we could better get the word out to maybe some people we’ve lost contact since the beta, again, I appreciate it.

Now I think I’m done for now. I’m sorry for rambling. Now that I’ve got that out there I have to go now because I need a good cry. Thanks to all of you again, and remember he’s only truely gone….if we forget him.

LuLu

Donations may be sent here: The Tarthos Fund

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Thank you to the former FASA studio members for sending the love out to Tarthos. We are not surprised.

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Shadowrun beta tester Tarthos battling brain cancer. Donate inside.

Published on October 13, 2008 in FASA. 2 Comments

UPDATE: A sad update about Tarthos can be found here.

Tarthos was one of the most popular Shadowrun beta testers and one mean Troll. He was a student of the game and when that particular game is Shadowrun, then that’s saying a lot. But above all that, he was a great person. You could just tell it. While most of us never met Tarthos, we knew that he was a mature, responsible family man, and the kind of guy that we would all like to be around. It was people like Tarthos that made testing Shadowrun such a blast. Tarthos, it was a pleasure getting to know you – even it was only through a game console, some software, and an internet connection.

Over the past couple of days, I have been getting messages from other Shadowrun beta testers that Tarthos is losing his battle against brain cancer. Barring a miracle that science can’t explain, Tarthos will likely die within in the next week or two. Here are messages from fellow Shadowrun testers:

“Just wanted to let some of you fellow SR beta testers know…please pray for Tarthos…he’s losing his battle with brain cancer and his wife told me today he doesn’t have much time left. Please keep them in your prayers.” – Oct 7, 2008, Lulu

“For those that don’t know Tarthos is real bad off right now he wife has told us that the docs said he have one week left. I am trying to collect enough money from all of us to buy a graveside bench. If you can’t we understand and its not a problem.” – Oct 10, 2008, Bry4

“Just an update…Tarthos doesn’t have much time left. His wife said today that he can’t even speak now. He can open his eyes and look at her, but he can’t respond at all. Please keep him in your thoughts and/or prayers.” – Oct 12, 2008, Lulu

I was not surprised that one Shadowrun beta tester is leading an effort to collect money from the community to help Tarthos’ wife. If you feel lead, please donate money through PayPal to the Tarthos Fund. The money will be used to buy a graveside bench from the Shadowrun gaming community. If any money is left over after the bench is purchased, then that money will go toward paying for Tarthos’ funeral.

Please keep Tarthos and his family in your prayers.

Donations may be sent here: The Tarthos Fund

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Eric Atkins, rapture
Hushed Casket Administrator

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UPDATE: A sad update about Tarthos can be found here.

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