RIP Mark Tyree aka Hoke...

[njhorror]

Oh Danny, that's such a nice story. I remember the winter of HAAAAAAAAAAAAATE!!! LOL Man, those were good times.
Mark was a special guy. He always spoke highly of you, D. Always. I'm going to miss the hell out of him. I still have his emails going back years. I'm going to reread them one of these days.

[dannyboy121070]

Oh Danny, that's such a nice story. I remember the winter of HAAAAAAAAAAAAATE!!! LOL Man, those were good times.
Mark was a special guy. He always spoke highly of you, D. Always. I'm going to miss the hell out of him. I still have his emails going back years. I'm going to reread them one of these days.

Ha ha ha...I have a bunch of archived e-mails from him, as well. I've been sitting here reading some. He always made a pont of mentioning how much he enjoyed talking to you.

[dannyboy121070]

Thanks for taking the time to read it, Martin.

[jeffingoff]

What an awesome tribute! Thank you for giving dimension to someone I didn't know beyond a forum handle. I wish I had known him.

[Martin]

Thanks for taking the time to read it, Martin.

It was an honor!

[Dave1442397]

I vaguely knew Mark Tyree as a funny guy that I occasionally stumbled across on the Shocklines message board. He was a prolific e-bay seller, and I bought a signed Dan Simmons book from him about 20 years ago for $25.00. The book arrived, and he had included an ungodly amount of extra stuff that he, as he later told me, "just threw in". These things he just threw in were about $100.00 worth of other books, almost all of which were signed. I e-mailed him and asked him if he made a mistake, and offered to send the extra books back to him. His reply is long since lost, but was along the lines of "Who doesn't want free stuff, ya shanty Irish bastich??" He sent me this extra stuff because something I posted on Shocklines made him laugh "...for twenty fuckin' hours straight!"

And that started a nearly endless string of instant messages, e-mails, and message board posts. We shared a million laughs, he cheered me up when I lost my job, he encouraged me to go after the woman that I would eventually marry, he sent me the most beautiful, touching e-mail when my son was born, he had my back when I had some nasty internet wars with some well-known authors/assholes, he sent me random messages that took hours to read, detailing all of his Larry David-esque misadventures. My best memory of him was from 2005...I lived in a horrid little upstairs apartment, and I had a broken ankle that pretty much kept me homebound for six weeks during a truly horrid winter. I couldn't negotiate my icy outdoor steps, and I couldn't drive even if I could get to my car. I was as miserable as I had ever been. My mother had my P.O. Box keys, and one day she arrived with my Dad, who was lugging a box so big that he could hardly get his arms around it. It had a strange return address with no name, and when I opened it up, it was filled with books. So many books that I still have some that I haven't had a chance to read yet. And I knew, just KNEW, who it was from. No name, no note, no nothing. Just the books...a collection that I later discovered was personally curated to match my tastes and interests, sent by someone I had never met in person, someone whose voice I had never even heard. When I sent him a message that simply said "Did you send me a box...?", he replied "Who, me? Tee hee hee..." Those books did wonders for my morale in my freezing, damp, leaky little hovel.

And that was Mark Tyree in a nutshell. Someone who would, literally, give you the shirt off of his own back if you needed it.

And that Dan Simmons book that I was so frantic to own, back in the day...? I never got around to reading it. It is tucked away on a shelf directly to the right of the desk I'm sitting at as I type this. And I think I'll leave it there for a bit. I'll take it down and crack it open when I'm missing my friend, and remember him as I read it.

You'll be missed, buddy. Be at peace.

Sounds like he was an awesome human being. These are the people we miss.

[Brian861]

I loved his movie reviews.

[njhorror]

This song always reminds me of Mark.

Raglan Road

On Raglan Road on an autumn day I met her first and knew
That her dark hair would weave a snare that I might one day rue;
I saw the danger, yet I walked along the enchanted way,
And I said, let grief be a fallen leaf at the dawning of the day.

On Grafton Street in November we tripped lightly along the ledge
Of the deep ravine where can be seen the worth of passion’s pledge,
The Queen of Hearts still making tarts and I not making hay
O I loved too much and by such by such is happiness thrown away.

I gave her gifts of the mind I gave her the secret sign that’s known
To the artists who have known the true gods of sound and stone
And word and tint. I did not stint for I gave her poems to say,
With her own name there and her own dark hair like clouds over fields of May.

On a quiet street where old ghosts meet I see her walking now
Away from me so hurriedly my reason must allow
That I had wooed not as I should a creature made of clay –
When the angel woos the clay he’d lose his wings at the dawn of day.



Here’s to beefsteak when you’re hungry, Whiskey when you’re dry, All the women you’ll ever want, And heaven when you die.

To you, Mark Tyree!

[Sock Monkey]

I didn’t know him well or for that long, but all my interactions with him on this forum were great. Very rarely have I met someone whose tastes in film lined up so closely with mine. He was always encouraging about my crummy little film reviews and it was fun to share movies with him. In fact I had just recently watched two of his recommendations, SWEET VIRGINIA and THE TREATMENT. I was looking forward to discussing both with him.

Njhorror and Dannyboy, thanks for sharing your thoughts and tributes with us. Mark seemed like a great guy. My condolences to all of his friends and family.

[VaJRC13]

Hello Everybody.

I joined this forum to say thank you for this post. I've been looking for a week or so for the forum that he frequented so I could let you all know the unfortunate news. Obviously, you guys have already heard. I know he really enjoyed coming to a couple forums to speak on and discuss his passions; Movies and Books.

It was super cool to see that he touched so many people even if any a very small way.

[VaJRC13]

By the way' I guess I should have probably mentioned this in the other post.

I am his step son, Jerry.

[dannyboy121070]

We're all very sorry for your loss, Jerry.

[Martin]

Jerry,
You probably already knew this but it is clear in this thread that your step father was a very positive influence in many lives.

We are so sorry for your loss.

[njhorror]

Hi Jerry. Mark was a special guy, and those of us that knew him are going to miss the heck out of him.

[Brian861]

We're all very sorry for your loss, Jerry.

Jerry,
You probably already knew this but it is clear in this thread that your step father was a very positive influence in many lives.

We are so sorry for your loss.

Hi Jerry. Mark was a special guy, and those of us that knew him are going to miss the heck out of him.

Indeed, guys.