Martin Skidmore [RIP 2011]

Very sad, RIP.

only know him as a great presence on a lot of classic threads here, but he was always so engaged & good humoured, this is very sad.

He was always such a terrific guy, almost absurdly good to everyone. And he had such a great and honest sense of himself. Such sad news ... he'd only have gotten even better and smarter. Ned's right to point how he could even tackle this illness with grace and good spirits, and keep right on writing and thinking. I will really, really miss this guy.

What a lovely man.

I think some of us need to go to the Glasshouse Stores ASAP and raise a glass.

Whatever happens, count us all there in spirit.

echoing darraghmac's sentiments...

RIP, and sorry to all the ilxors that knew him better than I did.

count me in for many spirits; martin was my the first regular to befriend me. didn't interact w/ him lately, but always liked him and found his crankiness a good good thing, and espesh sorry to his family and friends.

Aw shit. Farewell Martin and good thoughts to all his friends :(

all this time i've been here and i didn't really know him ... but i remember his thoughtful posts (esp. from ilx's earliest days).

rip and condolences to his family :-(

He put me in my place on here once (I deserved it), and I really appreciated it. He was very good to talk to, very understanding and fair and kind. Sad day.

this is horrible. martin was a kind and thoughtful man.

WBS's wonderful tribute is up:

http://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=3885

:(

rip

I didn't even know he was sick. My mom's had the same type of cancer for the past 6 years; my uncle had it too and died within months of detection. I only met him once or twice at London FAPS, but he was always a friendly presence around here. From his postings, at least it seems he lived life fully. I just read his journal--harrowing stuff.

Aw man, 52?

He was indeed a total stalwart of the Jukebox, and also I Love WWE, in its heyday.

Sleep well dude.

RIP. I only knew him via his ILX posts and what I read by him on Singles Jukebox, but he had a distinctive and engaging presence. When I was first trying to figure out ILX, he was one of the personalities that came to life most obviously and vividly. Besides the intelligence and ranging curiosity, seemed like a fundamentally decent guy. I'm sorry to hear he's gone.

RIP

RIP Martin :(

i didnt know the guy as well as a lot of people here but from his posts he was a very genuine and honest guy. RIP.

I did not know Martin, but I am very sorry for the loss of your friend.

Never got the pleasure to converse with him, but saw more than my fair share of his posts in the archive...seemed a very thoughtful, respectful, and intelligent guy.

RIP Martin

So, so, so sorry to hear this. He was always so nice to me, and to everyone. I'm just glad I got the chance to meet him when he was alive. RIP Martin.

RIP

A great guy. Rest in peace dude.

i just went back and read martin's lj for the last few months, and aside from kicking myself for not trying to send a few more words along after the facebook post months back, i am really astounded by the grace and humility and charity in those posts. obviously i'm sure he had and expressed a wealth of different emotions as all this went on, but the...grace (no other word, really) of those entries, especially in the last month or so, was really remarkable.

Didn't know Martin that well outside of Jukebox, but he was easily one of our MVPs, and always a pleasure to read. Rest in peace.

Ach, this happened a lot sooner than I expected :( Martin kept on posting to his Liejournal most days, after his diagnosis he went on a spree of reading all the books he'd always meant to get round to, which I thought was a sweet way of spending one's valuable last times. His descriptions of treatment were hard to read and heartbreaking, and it is more so now as he'd seemed to rally a little recently. Rest easy Martin, you were a gracious, kind and big-hearted guy.

Livejournal. ack what a typo :(

i'm deeply sorry i never got to meet martin. he was a decent and reassuring presence on ile and ilc for years. he was a wonderfully smart and informed guy, seemed to have read and seen everything, and wrote very well about it. i spent a whole afternoon a few weeks ago reading his reviews at the comics site he edited. i meant to drop him a line to tell him how terrific i thought it was -- too late now. :(

reading all the books he'd always meant to get round to

I should tear up at "books before I diary" but it's so Martin and so indicative of what strongo so rightly identifies as grace.

so often I come across really excellent insightful posts on bumped threads and look to see who it is and yes, it's Martin. Always enjoy his Singles Jukebox contributions too. I'd have liked to have known him better, and my thoughts are with everyone who did. RIP.

Tom's tribute:

http://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2011/07/martin-skidmore/

Martin was the kind of contributor every community wants – quick to say something welcoming or smart, slow to anger, possessed of a working bullshit detector but enough of a gent to use it wisely. ILX would never have been any good without him and others like him in its early stages.

: ( terrible

RIP martin

Very sad, I knew him only from reading him here and on Singles Jukebox, but always appreciated his humor and insight and he seemed like a kind person.

RIP

i keep coming back to ilx because of what i saw in my early lurking days, though martin had very different interests than me and we rarely interacted he is part of what made this place special and we are diminished

wanted to send him some kind of simple words of well wishing or compassion recently but didn't, worried it would feel contrived given how little i've interacted directly with him over the years and years i've occupied the same virtual vicinity. but he was a good man, RIP.

Waking up to this is really sad. I admired Martin enormously as some kind of ultimate cultural polymath, he seemed to know something about everything, but he wrote in a such a human, accessible way so it wasn't intimidating how smart he was. I admired Martin because in his fifties he was probably living more than many do in their twenties. One couldn't help but find him frank, funny and engaging, and I know he's living a big hole in the world even bigger than the one on the Internet as a result. RIP Martin.

I believe his presence on ilx was mostly before my time - either that or we didn't bump elbows that much. still, I certainly recognize his name.

RIP man. fuck cancer!

RIP martin :-(

He was a kind man, good company, and a shrewd critical thinker, and I will miss him.

nearly ten years ago now, martin asked a group of his friends if we knew of any online communities that might interest him. i pointed him in the direction of ILX, and the rest is history.

i was friends with martin for more than twenty-five years, and am in no fit state to write anything very coherent just right now. but i can honestly say that i don't ever expect to meet anyone like martin skidmore ever again, and that today, a UNIQUE, one of a kind person has left us, left the world. He was a decent man and I will miss him very very much. In consolation, he was in a great deal of pain and misery at the end, and the hospital that he was in ensured that his passing was as peaceful as possible. He died with a large group of loving friends close by his side.

In one of his last emails Martin spoke of how wonderful his friends were to him. Helping him with everything and being there from him , he was never alone. I'd like to thank his friends for being there for him I know he appreciated you all so very very much.

Wish I had met him, he was a really nice guy and I wish I had emailed him more rather than a handful of times a year.
I don't drink so I'll listen to a funk album that isn't guitar focused! in his honour.

Aw nutz.
Martin was about the only ILX member to talk to me on the board other than Teeny. He was smart, kind and I wish I had known him IRL. *wiggy cries*

oh, and Ned Raggett too. Can't forget him!

Didn't interact with him very often on ILM, but I always liked his approach. Most of my interaction, if you can call it that, was from reading his Singles Jukebox blurbs and various comments he'd toss up on blogs. His insight and joy will certainly be missed.

didn't know him personally but read his contributions here and on TSJ - always one of my favorite reviews. heard the news while on a bus that was delayed on the side of the road, felt totally gutted and helpless - had no idea. RIP.

just sucks when ilxors die

oh, and Ned Raggett too. Can't forget him!

― Wiggywoo, Wednesday, July 27, 2011 7:13 PM (13 minutes ago) Bookmark

would it spoil the mood of this thread if i began addressing Ned as "Raggyroo"?