Dr. Morbius (Bill Weber) RIP

At the very east I'm glad he was taken care of by his amazing sister, who did everything and more for him, so my condolences to her as well.

I'm glad he was loved by so many. Great tributes for a great one.

wow. RIP Dr. M. you were one of my favorites here

RIP Morbs. He looks familiar, I'm sure we were at certain events together, WFMU things maybe, sorry I never got the chance to say hello.

RIP. Have always loved hearing his variegated and amusing opinions on film. A lovely thread that captures the impression he left on the people here.

he didnt suffer fools which means he didnt suffer me when i was preferring to be daft on here but that huge knowledge of something increasingly bygone was a motherload to be cherished and defended -- i'm barely even a tourist new york-wise but i like and feel i recognise j0rdan's description, of BW as a holdover from an otherwise vanishing city, a connection to something real but threatened, and a great implacable bulwark against that threat

and as everyone correctly says, he was a sweetheart and a heartbear in person -- were you actually older than me? who can say? sleep well old dude we will not see the like ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Rest in Peace Morbs - one of those people i never interacted with really here, but I liked his style. Condolences to those around him.

a fundamental part of this place has closed. rip to a legend. rename detrius morbius imo

This is extremely sad. RIP Morbs.

fuck fuck fuck

He was definitely one of the first personalities that jumped out at me when I started lurking here years ago and indelible to the character of this place. Next WFMU donation will be in his honor.

Very sad news to wake up to. His knowledge of film was astounding and his curmudgeonly presence always delighted me.

I was very lucky to meet Morbs when he came to London. We didn't know what the other looked like (there must've been some description), he didn't have a phone so I spent about 10-15 minutes walking around this full pub in central London on the lookout but right enough we spotted one another and went on to drink and talk for a few hours over film, politics and lots of gossip of course. Really sweet, although I detected some irritation at my request at the end of the evening to contribute to whatever film poll we were going to do next when he said he wasn't going to. But of course he did contribute - his grouchiness at the film poll results became a highlight of sorts for me. Like people say it came from a place of knowledge, he always wanted you to know more, to not forget that what we liked about this film was a thing already made by someone or other decades ago. Nevertheless (as Ward noted) he was always watching new stuff and engaging with it.

At the end of that evening I wish I had made plans to watch a film together, but of course there was no time. A couple of years later he posted a thread on Ritwik Ghatak, and he opened by citing my posts and that we'd see many films together if we were in the same place and its really, really true we would have.

Thanks John for posting the thread and condolences to all his family.

Rest in Peace, Bill.

Goddamn, just waking up to see this. What sad news.

I clashed with him more often than anyone else on this board, which I regret, but he was a great ILXOR and seemed like a great person I really wish I could have met in real life. RIP Morbs, this really sucks.

So sorry for all of you who have just lost a friend, its been good to read your stories. RIP morbz

he didnt suffer fools which means he didnt suffer me when i was preferring to be daft on here but that huge knowledge of something increasingly bygone was a motherload to be cherished and defended -- i'm barely even a tourist new york-wise but i like and feel i recognise j0rdan's description, of BW as a holdover from an otherwise vanishing city, a connection to something real but threatened, and a great implacable bulwark against that threat

Mark S's comment is very good. One of the things I liked most about Dr Morbius was how, from the off, he was deeply invested in things that seemed slightly old-fashioned (and the more charming for that): moviegoing (especially old black & white movies), baseball (New York Mets), maybe even newspapers.

The way Mark S describes him here strongly reminds me of Jonathan Lethem's character Perkus Tooth in CHRONIC CITY (2009). Which is more apt the more I think of it - Perkus, who eventually dies of illness, breaking his friends' hearts, is eccentric, irascible, expert in old obscure things and especially in New York, to which he has a backward-looking, dissident political commitment. Did Dr Morbius read that novel? Possibly.

Dr Morbius riled people a lot on, especially political, threads here, but I couldn't especially see why. I suppose it wasn't my world. I quite liked the fact that he insisted, not merely that politicians were all always bad, but rather that something specific and historical and had gone wrong: that US politics up to Carter or the end of the 1970s had operated within different ideological norms from what developed later. (Perhaps that's a misrepresentation of his thought, but I think he would have been one to make the point that even Nixon did things that would have appeared progressive by later standards.)

I saw Dr Morbius briefly in August 2019, on the Lower East Side with Jody. In this very passing encounter, he mentioned his experiences with cancer. Touchingly, he remembered when we'd met before and where it was: the back garden of Boxcar Lounge, East Village, June 2008. I have a couple of pictures from him from that night. I remember him commenting on his ILX name - something like 'Well, what d'you expect from a galactic villain?'. When he left, we (or maybe it was just I) called: 'Bye, Dr Morbius!'.

Bye, Dr Morbius.

Really sad to hear this. As a bit of a lurker we never crossed paths but he seemed like a good dude and he really knew his cinema. Condolences to all who knew him, RIP Dr. Morbius.

Sad to hear the news. We didn't interact much on here and I never met him but I'll miss his posts - even the snarky politics ones, some of which I used to bristle at but have increasingly come to realise that he was right all along. There are so many great stories on this thread; thanks everyone for sharing your memories.

RIP Dr Morbius and condolences to his friends, family, and verbal sparring partners, on ILX and off.

He was a better, more hopeful, less angry, and less hateful person than most of the people who went after him on this thing.

May the earth be light upon him eternally and may some of y'all's consciences be very heavy on you for a bit.

never interacted with him much but always enjoyed his views, even when I disagreed with them. He was definitely a singular presence on this board. RIP Dr Morbs and condolences to all those who knew and loved him.

I'm even sadder this morning after combing through all of the remembrances itt. A loss is always painful but moreso when there are so many people feeling it so profoundly.

The sheer amount of ILXors who crossed paths with him irl is frankly staggering. My condolences to all.

Despite our many disagreements in recent years, Bill was always extraordinarily kind and generous in our past meetings. He would show up at strange parties I was DJing and hang out with me, and once even met me outside the porn studio where I had been working and treated me to an afternoon of beers and burgers at the bike messenger bar down the street. Last time I saw him was a random event-- I was in NYC for work and visiting friends at Julius. I hadn't been posting on this board in a while. And there he was, sidled up at the bar after a film screening. We gave each other a big hug and promised to see each other soon. Nearly eight years have passed since then, and I'm really sorry we never were able to make it happen. RIP.

This is unbelievably sad but I hope his family finds comfort in how much he is loved and how his life was so full.

My last memory of Bill was seeing him one Sunday afternoon at a MOMI screening that was only 20% full and everyone was seated rows and rows apart. He waved and smiled from way downstream and we all did a pantomime of mulling over getting up and all sitting together but it was Sunday and life makes you lazy. It was enough to just be in the same room as him.

If we can draw a lesson here, it's to meet as many ILXors irl as possible.

Did Morbs post on music threads? I knew him for film, politics, and baseball, and I find myself wondering today what he liked musically.

I only remember him really loving Stephin Merritt/The Magnetic Fields.

As a long time reader/occasional poster, Morbs is one of those folks (like so many of you on here) who I pay attention to with interest when he talks about subjects close to his heart. Film, in this case, I know nothing about Baseball.

I would follow up on things he brought to light and without having any direct exchange with Morbs, he tangibly expanded my appreciation of certain corners of that world. He was a pillar of ILX. So, thanks Bill, and go gently.

Dan Petersen, one of the more remarkable things about him hanging out with me at DJ gigs was that I was often playing Ableton techno/house sets to crowds of drunk 20-somethings like myself, and he didn't care much for the music I was playing...but he hung out with me anyway.

iirc he was a Replacements fan and would post about them and other 80s US underground bands, no doubt others will know a lot more though

Absolutely a foundational ILX figure for me and though I've never met anyone here irl near the top of my list of posters with whom I would want to have a drink.

I only tangled with him once here when his constant withering political fury drove me over the line and the short exchange taught me how smart he was and not to tug on superman's cape.

RIP, Dr. Morbius. When our Mets finally win the World Series again I will be thinking of you.

RIP

Beautiful picture, and lovely words from j0rdan where I heard about this on twitter. Thx Jordan

i hate to hear this. loved him so much. he was the ilxor for me whose in person personality seemed to differ the most from his online one - he seemed so fun and loveable in person, but then after meeting him i realized that's what he was like online too, i'd just been reading him wrong. learned a lot from him about such diverse things.

I’m so sad. This thread is beautiful. Bill was an essential part of NYC visits to me, even if we only chatted for a few minutes or were in the same space for a few hours. I haven’t been to NYC is about 7 years, sadly, bc life. I’m glad I got to see a baseball game with him once, and sad we never got the Expos back here in Montreal because I would definitely have gone to games at the big O if he’d come up for them. He was a grounding presence to me, always smart, always kind. I wish he could’ve met my kid; I think he would have made him laugh. He had a good laugh. Sigh. Rest In Peace, Morbs.

RIP, Dr. Morbius. When our Mets finally win the World Series again I will be thinking of you.

― He was very mean to Mr. Chamillionaire (PBKR), Thursday, October 22, 2020 8:18 AM (thirteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

my baseball fandom is waning a bit but this..
always valued his film posts and loved reading yall's remembrances

terrible, terrible news. RIP Dr Morbius

He was one of the first people to engage with me on here, in a film results thread, haha
We were scathing about each other’s opinions but I could have been anyone and his engagement was a type of generosity. Later we were left-liberal or left of liberal in the Obama years, a somewhat lonely position. now all of witter is dsa, ml or anarcho-communist ofc. I always felt a bond with him in threads from jean simmons to Louis Malle. fondly remembered

count me among those who occasionally butted heads with him and didnt have the pleasure of making his acquaintance. but seeing everyone -- including some very missed old regulars -- and their stories of shared experiences and passions...it enhances the myth and legend of dr morbius for me. this board and this world are lesser for his absence.

Very sad news but glad to hear how well loved he was, condolences to all who knew him. This place won't be the same without him.

If we can draw a lesson here, it's to meet as many ILXors irl as possible.

Despite what you're reading, we're all still figments of your imagination, Ned.

It is (or at least was) easy to do if you live in a big city that attracts tourists and have a social life that's built around cultural events, and it certainly sounds like Morbs had that.

It's also astonishing to think that you can post on the same message board as someone for 15-20 years and still miss aspects of their character that are there plain to see, I had no idea he was one of ILX's go-to baseball experts, for example.

Very sad news. You all who knew him off the board have my sincere sympathies--I'm also jealous, these stories about him are deeply touching and we shared a lot of interests (we also clearly read many of the same blogs during the W years--e.g., I had actually heard of Perrin before ilx). As many have said, he was a pillar around here and, due to my habit of reading old threads after watching classic movies, I may have read more from him than almost any other poster. I doubt I registered much as a poster for him, but I will miss him.

Did Morbs post on music threads?

I can't think of any specific examples, but sometimes in his very infrequent appearances on ILM, I think you saw a bit more clearly the gentleness others have been giving such wonderful testimony to.

Despite what you're reading, we're all still figments of your imagination, Ned.

I have met Ned in person, and let me tell you, you never forget how lovely and luxurious that mane is once you witness it

Essential to understanding Bill was his coming of age in every sense at the dawn of the Reagan era. The Democratic Party he read about and experienced -- the union-strong FDR coalition -- was in its death throes. Then AIDS happened. There's no way around the fact that he came across as a irascible curmudgeon because he grew tired of having to repeat himself as the consequences of those death throes and Reagan's influence spiraled past the GOP and into younger Dems and liberals. That's why I keep coming back to my definition of a cynic: a closet sentimentalist frustrated by the stubbornness with which life doesn't match one's ideals. Lord knows we fought in person and on this board: we shared a sensibility but not taste. But I know he respected and loved me, and part of those things means annoyance that I couldn't see things his way lol.

To his immense credit, Bill's passion for film and baseball kept him alive in every sense until his body couldn't anymore.

RIP to the good Dr Morbius. Condolences to those who knew him. Will miss him here, especially on baseball threads. He got me to dip my toe into sabermetrics, before i found myself overwhelmed and dipped out again. So many great reminiscences itt. Thanks especially to j0rdan for his.

I think his presence on ILM is more focussed than infrequent - 36 posts on the 2020 WFMU Fundraising thread.

I think you saw a bit more clearly the gentleness others have been giving such wonderful testimony to.

Yeah, up to a point: Regis Philbin "When You're Smiling"

I just meant he was obviously less invested in ILM. And while Regis Philbin isn't really the kind of ILM thread I had in mind, I did say "sometimes" :)