Hyrum was my guy. I live on the east coast and never thought I'd feel so shaken from the death of someone whom I had never met in person. But he had a cool easy way about him that made him instantly likeable. Dude was brilliant, kind and talented. So it always felt like such a tragedy when malady after malady would strike him. He didn't deserve it and he did his best to work against life working against him.
One of the last times we spoke was on the phone this summer and it sounded urgent when he told me to call him. I was worried, but it turned out he just wanted to talk. My man had a charm to the point when even he's telling you about all his ill fortune, he manages to sound optimistic.
He was kind enough to send me a copy of his poetry book a few months back and it's everything I'd expect of a person of his talents. And I'm glad his words will live on.
Will always remember the time LM reached out via PM, it seemed like picking up a conversation and continuing from whenever we left off last time in the cosmos.
Truly one of kind, he's touched many lives online/offline, very fortunate to have had a chance to chat with him through the years. LM's presence will be sorely missed.
I salute you Lowest Merion!! _________________ Starting Lakers Dynasty6.0! NOW!!
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....." each year in Lakerland is marked by four seasons: Kobe’s Mad at His Teammates; Kobe’s Shooting Too Much; Kobe Leads the Victory Parade; Kobe Receives His Championship Ring."
Hyrum first reached out to me in 2013 to shoot the (bleep) about the Lakers, this forum and some of its infamous neurotics, music...life in general. Really casual things. He found me on social media. We chatted for hours on the night Kobe tore his achilles, and I got to know him a bit. I found him unusually comfortable opening up about things that he loved and hated, what things drove him at the moment, especially to someone who hadn't offered much on the record here other than a potpourri of banter and aimless sh__posting. I quickly figured out that he must have been a treasured friend to his friends. After that week, we caught each other online sporadically for some quick howdies, and over that next year our relationship consisted of months-long gaps between messages, with the occasional sharing of youtube music links, spontaneous attempts at arranging meetups to catch a game, a drink, or a sandwich (which I'm heartbroken to say never panned out), and him PMing me here on LG when his least favorite heels made pariahs of themselves. He'd often criticize me for things I'd posted that he found carelessly mean or stupid, but like a friend would do. He cherished his IRL encounters with friends he'd made on this site. Quite a bit of time passed with no communication between us, and then one day, he sent me a message regarding some bad news about his practice, fear for his childrens' welfare while he was between jobs, and some frustration about a nagging health problem--nothing heavy, just something he'd worried would become a "larger, less manageable problem" (his words). I gave him my phone number. He called me at work and we chatted for a good hour or so in the wee morning, not about these problems, but about joyful, silly things again. I've never had such a long, casual phone conversation with anyone--certainly not another male--who wasn't already a loved real-life relation. He was an easy person to speak to, because he had zero apprehensions about you knowing him in full. From this point on, our communication happened almost exclusively over the phone. He'd make time to ask how things were going with me; I seldom returned the honor. Before too long, he'd informed me that his nagging health problem was actually just one symptom of a rare, excruciating nerve disorder. He was in an exceptional and steadily worsening physical pain. Years shot by and we'd hardly talked. In this frame of time, the man messaged me some pieces of his writing and requests for medical advice, and I received a couple of amazon packaged books that he authored. I'll always regret that I neglected to open them until yesterday.
Thanks for sharing this, Huey. Really great testimony to what made Hyrum such a good dude.
We had an intense back and forth over a thread I created about Lakers having the best roster for the money. He disagreed and passionately insulted me and I insulted him back. I knew that day the man was disturbed. The thread was closed by the mods.
I never saw him post again.
PS.
He was right though, this roster sucks donkey balls. _________________ Trade AD now.
Joined: 23 Jun 2005 Posts: 6054 Location: My own little piece of reality
Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2018 9:25 pm Post subject:
Rest in peace.
I did not know him personally. But had a short PM exchange with him years ago and could sense his decency and kindness just in that limited conversation. And he was always a thoughtful and articulate poster here on LG.
Condolences to his family and friends. _________________ “There is always light if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to be it.” --Amanda Gorman
“Hyrum was my brother-in-law.
I actually introduced him to this website when we use to carpool to Century City together for work. I haven't posted since his passing because I still can't believe he's gone, he helped me understand basketball at such a different level and even bought me The Book of Basketball for me on Christmas. He was a great guy and we all miss him dearly. For those wondering, his children do not know of his passing yet, as him and my sister divorced a while ago and they are too young but my sister will let them know when the time comes. Thank you everybody for the kind words, Hyrum always was excited to talk about his experiences here at LakersGround and how he can communicate with others over his love of basketball and Lakers with individuals of the same mindset. “
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Hopefully the family comes together after this tragedy.
