HarryK - Your Going To Be Missed... RIP

[gtpadmin]

An old friend who stood out amongst the best of em...

[sarettah]

I posted this on another board where many people knew Harry from the old days.

It is only appropriate that I post it here also as this was Harry's baby.

***********

I am devastated. That is the only word that comes to mind.

Harry was, at this point, pretty much my only client. I have been making a conscious effort across the past 2 years to get rid of all client work with the exception of Harry. I didn't make any money off the projects I did with him but I am a pain in the ass to deal with as a programmer and he was a pain in the ass to deal with as a client, so we complemented each other quite well.

I finished up a complete rewrite of boardscanner over at allofem.com for him just a couple of weeks ago and was waiting for him to sign off on the code. I was tempted yesterday morning to pester him about it but didn't because I knew that he had been dealing with his Mom and that he had not been feeling well, so I left him alone. I wish now that I had made that phone call.

I will miss our phone calls. We used to get on the phone to talk about a project. The first 15 minutes or so would be business chat and then the next hour (or two or three) would just go anywhere the conversation took us.

He was one of the good guys. I was not around during the early days when he was at Netpond. I came into this whole thing around 2001 and didn't really get involved much until 2003. So, I don't know what he was doing back then like many of you do. When I hooked up with Harry he was working on allofem, the boardscanner was in place and he had already burned through 2 or 3 programmers trying to keep that running and up to date. The first real project I did with him was to get the boardscanner working again. From there we went on to other things, some small, some big. Some worked, some failed. We would butt heads constantly. We both had the bad habit of reading tone into emails and we would both get all worked up into a big old lather and then one of us would pick up the phone and all would be cool.

There were many phone calls that were just friend calls. Nothing to do with biz. He would sometimes call just to commiserate about life and I used him the same way. I knew when he just needed someone to listen to him and he returned the favor. We got to know each others lifes and would often provide a support net to each other.

Harry was a writer as many of you know. He also loved to cook. He was devoted to his mother. I knew that the situation with his Mom caused him a tremendous amount of stress but heaven help you if you suggested that he put her in a nursing home or have someone else in the family help with the situation. He was the sole caretaker and no matter how much stress he had he would find every reason in the world that he was the only one who could take care of her.

I am going to miss Harry terribly. I already do. I am amazed that I am having this severe of a reaction to the news. There is a tremendous amount of guilt for unfinished business. There is a tremendous amount of self pity that I will not have my friend there anymore.

It amazes me that the death of a person that I dealt with purely on the internet, via the boards, email and phone calls can have such a profound effect on me. Don't ever believe that the internet is not "real". Harry and I had as solid of a friendship as I have ever had with anyone. He had become family to me and I am the better off for having known him.

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[Gord]

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I dont have a lot of words for this .. Harry, you were one of a very few I would call a friend, and you will be sorely missed.

Electra .. our hearts go out to you and his family.

[pdawg]

Russ posted sentiments far more eloquent than I could have come up with.

After more fits and starts than I care to think about I am putting a new project online, and as the dust finally begins to settle with it I was thinking I needed to hit Harry up and get his thoughts, knowing fully well that I needed to "book" five times the amount of time that it would take to discuss my little project.

You'll be missed, buddy - and Molly, if you need anything feel free to hit me up.

Bill Miller
(PornoDoggy, PD, and Harry had lots of other names for me from time to time)

[Gypsy]

I just can't believe this, I don't want to believe this.

Harry touched many peoples lives, either personally, professionally....sometimes both. I am thankful I knew him, and sad he is gone. He was truely a great man, and there will never be another one like him.

Rest in peace sweetie, you will always be in our hearts.


Molly, if you need anything, please let me know.

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Cookies For Christmas

[melody2323]

Thank you for posting this, my friend. I'm so upset about this I couldn't even find my id -- I had to make a new one.

Harry Kenney was one of my best friends in the world. I had known, loved and respected him for over ten years. Every bad time in life or business, I could always count on Harry to stand by me even when it was personally uncomfortable for him. He never let a friend down, he never lost an opportunity to cheer someone up or help them. So many people in this business were touched by Harry -- I think he had a hundred best friends.

I talked with Harry just the night before he died. We used to talk two to three times a week. I promised him I'd call him last night and, as generally happens with me, I forgot amidst all our current stuff going on.

Now I'm left with memories of our eating at Quarks Bar in the Enterprise Experience, oooing and awing about the "realism" to the Enterprise, joking with Klingons ... Harry and I even had our picture taken with a Klingon. lol Bless him, we were both SF fans and he was a Trekker to the end -- the last thing we talked about was his ailment being a "congenital anomaly". We decided it sounded like a Star Trek problem -- we then adlibbed a whole bit with the bridge dealing with the Congenital Anomaly. As ever, no one could make me laugh like Harry could.

Recently, I'd got him watching Ghost Hunters and House. We talked about both every week.

He was my dear, dear friend and I shall miss him so much that I have no words to describe that loss.

Thank you, Molly, for everything you did for Harry and for being "with" him. I know he wouldn't have lived this long without you in his life.

[Cupoholic]

RIP Harry. If there's an afterlife I know you are up there somewhere
smiling .

[carlajayne]

>>He was the sole caretaker and no matter how much stress he had he would find every reason in the world that he was the only one who could take care of her.

Sarettah, this reminded me of one of the many late night chats I used to have with Harry back when I was working with him ... I lectured him all the time about taking care of himself and taking time for himself but he would never hear of anything so ridiculous when his Mom needed looking after.

Melody, I couldn't help laughing at your Trekker story. I could picture it!! LOL We used to have similar jokes about the health issue he had before his heart problems. There were always hilarious moments as we discussed the embarassing thing we shared in common!!

I am all the way across the world in Australia and today phone calls and text have been going all around this country passing on the news. He touched a lot of lives ... always there to help, always there to chat to ... one of the first people I met in this biz and one who I will regret not seeing in so long.

RIP Dravyk. RELAX in peace.

We're sending you all our love from down under Electra.
xx

[Drew]

Wow..so sorry to hear this news. He was always a gentleman in our dealings. His reputation and integrity was one of the things i most admired. You knew right away he was a straight up guy. RIP Harry.

[obahs]

I am so sorry to hear of Harry's passing. I worked with him and Electra way back about 5 years ago and enjoyed the couple of years I worked there. He was a great man and boss and will be missed by many, many people. God Bless him and keep him.