After a late night out ( with some local wrestlers at a midget wrestling show ) I woke up to see SmartMark Video post the news on facebook. I always enjoyed his writing here on the board & we were following each other on twitter. He turned us on to some cool people like the afore mentioned El Generico & LuFisto. The wrestling world has lost a truly passionate supporter and we have lost a true friend. Rest In Peace Michael.
I passed the odd message online with Michael over the years. He always came across as a really nice, genuine man. I really enjoyed his articles he'd post here from time to time.
I always enjoyed reading Llakor's thoughts, especially those classic "When We Were Marks" columns where he would talk about how he experienced wrestling as a boy, and constantly seemed to be promising an imminent column about "The Match That Convinced Us That Wrestling Was Real." (Did he ever actually post that.) His enthusiasm for the workers on the Canadian indie scene was undeniable and infectious--he made me a fan of Lufisto when I never really got to see her work!
He will be greatly missed in the online wrestling community, and I can only imagine how much more so he'll be missed among those who knew him more closely. My deepest condolences to his loved ones, and he'll be in my thoughts.
This is a little embarassing. I "knew" Llakor from ITVR and CRZBoard/Weinerboard/The-W forever, and I've been Facebook friends with Michael Ryan for a few years too. But only today did I realize they were both the same guy. Like I said, embarassing.
We talked and goofed around on the messageboards for years and years and we chatted a few times on FB too. He was a cool dude. Shocked and saddened to read about his passing on FB this morning. Part of me still feels like it isnt true and and someone is going to come along and correct this little piece of misinformation we've all been given, but I guess if that was gonna happen it would've happened by now.
Nous ne nous pouvons pas sortir. I learned about National Novel Writing month because of him, and I've recounted Generico's origin story out loud to anyone who would listen.
It's been many, many years since I remember chatting with Llakor. Since then, I've moved away from pro wrestling fandom, although I still watch from time to time, but what always struck me about Llakor was his passion for it and how he really poured his heart and soul into his work with IWS. He was one of the good ones. Although I did not know him well, that much I know for sure.
i just checked my PM inbox and i still have some correspondence from him from a couple years ago discussing comics.
He also once name-checked me in a tongue-in-cheek manner at an Incredibly Strange Wrestling show in Montreal, since I had been to the previous show but he missed it.
Originally posted by ZeruelI didn't know him at all, nor ever even had a PM with the guy, but I feel like I "know" him through all of his writings.
He has a passion for wrestling like I used to have but lost years ago. I'm really in disbelief now.
That's how it feels for me too. I never talked with him, but Llakor is one of those names I just got used to always seeing around here.
It's a really sobering feeling. It's easy to forget sometimes that each name has a real person behind it. I feel terribly for his friends and family. This is just terrible news.
Looks like a lot of the Canadian posters met or at least had some interaction with him. I only knew him through his writings, as others have said. Really sad. RIP.
Met & spoken with the man many times. A truly good guy and a fine writer to boot. He was often my go-to resource for obscure comic book characters seeing as he was such a huge comics fan (every time I saw him, he had a Spider-Man shirt). I know in the last few years he had been having on and off health problems, so I really hope that wasn't too much of a factor. No one will do as much for Quebec indies as he did.
Rest in peace, brother.
PS: I never DID get around to asking him what his name meant.
(edited by JST on 26.4.13 0046) My side is the side of love, peace and submachine guns.