Comments on: A Death in the Family

By: _ajd_

_ajd_ — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 15:39:20 +0000

How incredible sad, and my best to Todd’s family and the BB community.

I passed along this post to a friend of mine who knows Regina, and she forwarded it to her. She was quite touched that her music could provide some modicum of comfort to Todd and his family.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 04:51:52 +0000

Very sorry to read this. My thoughts are with all of those who were close to him.

By: lisaswan

lisaswan — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 07:34:23 +0000

I’ve been sad all day since hearing this. I wrote on the Subway Squawkers blog about Todd today: http://subwaysquawkers.blogspot.com/2009/01/sad-news-from-yankee-blogging-world.html

As Jane Heller, writer of Confessions of a She-Fan, put it: “It’s amazing how connected we can feel to people we only know through blogging about our teams.” How true.

While I didn’t know Todd personally, I felt like I knew him – at least a little – through his Yankee writings. And it makes me sad to think I’ll never get to read his vignettes of conversations with Yankee fans again.

41 is way too young to die.

By: pugzilla

pugzilla — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 02:04:56 +0000

Death is nothing at all
I have only slipped away into the next room
I am I and you are you
Whatever we were to each other
That we are still
Call me by my old familiar name
Speak to me in the easy way you always used
Put no difference into your tone
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow
Laugh as we always laughed
At the little jokes we always enjoyed together
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was
Let it be spoken without effort
Without the ghost of a shadow in it
Life means all that it ever meant
It is the same as it ever was
There is absolute unbroken continuity
What is death but a negligible accident?
Why should I be out of mind
Because I am out of sight?
I am waiting for you for an interval
Somewhere very near
Just around the corner
All is well.
Nothing is past; nothing is lost
One brief moment and all will be as it was before
How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!

Canon Henry Scott-Holland, 1847-1918, Canon of St Paul’s Cathedral

‘The King of Terrors’, a sermon on death delivered in St Paul’s Cathedral on Whitsunday 1910, while the body of King Edward VII was lying in state at Westminster:

published in Facts of the Faith, 1919

IMO, this says it all….

By: edeaton

edeaton — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 01:39:30 +0000

This is such sad news. He was far too young. My condolences go out to Todd’s family and friends.

By: Jay Jaffe

Jay Jaffe — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 01:27:42 +0000

My deepest condolences go out to Todd’s family and friends as well as his Bronx Banter colleagues and fans. What a truly sad loss.

By: Evil Empire

Evil Empire — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 01:23:34 +0000

[26][47] Thank you both. Something came over me at work. I really want it to be true times 10.

By: Evil Empire

Evil Empire — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 01:21:32 +0000

Guys — it’s been a real sad, yet somehow uplifting, reading through everyone’s comments today. I just wanted to comment again to say that I see so many screen names that — I’ve chatted with, debated with, argued with — and ultimately respected over the last few years discussing the Yankees at the Banter (here and at the Toaster). Knowing people who you discuss baseball with online is such an impossibility, but we do sometimes get each others’ personalities and we all have a common bond that connects the different voices. I’m so sorry that one of those voices has been silenced today; and we’ve lost a truly unique and special viewpoint. When Todd Drew wrote something, you knew it was going to have purpose, and meaning, and depth.

I am deeply saddened by Todd’s death for all the reasons everyone else has stated. As someone who’s only 6 months older than he was, this really hits home for me; and my Father died of the same horrible disease that took him from us.

By: Mr. OK Jazz TOKYO

Mr. OK Jazz TOKYO — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 01:18:02 +0000

Oh man..just onto the Banter this morning and saw this..am at least glad to hear that his family and friends were there at the end..reading all the responses here, makes me feel that the Banter really IS a community..[23] Jeb/EE, love what you wrote there, and I hope it’s where I end up when it’s my time..good trip, Todd, sayonara…

By: edoubletrouble

edoubletrouble — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 00:39:21 +0000

My condolences to all Todd Drew’s family and all the friends here at Bronx Banter.
Peace.

By: Cliff Corcoran

Cliff Corcoran — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 23:44:04 +0000

Also Chyll Will's comment above at #16 got stuck in the filter. I thought I'd point it out as Will offers some tunes (via youtube links) in memory of Todd.

By: Cliff Corcoran

Cliff Corcoran — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 23:39:19 +0000

Todd’s contributions to Banter can all be found via this link:

http://www.bronxbanterblog.com/category/todd/

His Yankees For Justice blog can be found at:

http://yankeesforjustice.blogspot.com/

By: bp1

bp1 — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 23:38:14 +0000

What a shock. I wish there were some comforting words I could offer to help people through their grief. He was taken from the world far too soon. My deepest sympathies to his family, friends, and to all of you Yankee fans who enjoyed his writing here and elsewhere. May he rest in peace.

By: Bama Yankee

Bama Yankee — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 23:08:23 +0000

Man, this is terrible news. As others have said, Todd’s writing was great and something I looked forward to reading each day. We are all a little better for having a chance to read his stuff, even for only a short time. He will surely be missed. My prayers go out to his family. I hope they can take some solace in that fact that Todd’s writing touched so many people.

By: scottygelbs

scottygelbs — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 23:05:07 +0000

My condolences to Todds family and friends. I just learned of his passing from peter abrahams blog. Are there any good links to Todd’s stories???

By: RIYank

RIYank — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 22:44:41 +0000

Oh, man.
I’m sad, too. I really loved Shadow Games and I’ll read them over, for sure. I think I’ll go read some Yankees for Justice right now.
Damn. Goodbye, Todd.

By: Mattpat11

Mattpat11 — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 22:30:56 +0000

Wow. Honestly, I’ve been here sort of sporadically lately, and I didn’t even know Todd was ill. I really enjoyed his Shadow Games stuff.

Very sad.

By: LAJ

LAJ — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 21:55:46 +0000

I can neither add more to the sentiments here nor find words to express the terrible sadness that afflicts me: Having never met Todd, I can’t claim to be a friend, yet the loss I feel is as acute as if he & I were “real world” friends. But if not a friend, I will remain a great fan: His talent as a writer cannot be overstated & I looked forward to his contributions to the SNY version of Banter more than any other columnist, which is saying much given the great Web destination Banter is.

To Mrs. Drew, Todd’s family & friends, my deepest condolences. Certainly, I cannot guess as to your loss & anguish; please know that Todd’s talent greatly effected me & his absence will echo permanently for me. My daily desk routine will continue, commencing with a check of Banter. But Todd’s absence will now be part of that routine too; enjoying the other writers work will remind me how much I’m missing Todd’s view from the 2 Train. Please accept condolences and my thoughts and prayers are with you and Todd.

By: OldYanksFan

OldYanksFan — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 21:54:36 +0000

Jesus… I’m stunned. It’s great meeting friends on the internet. It’s terrible to hear news like this. My deepest condolences to his wife and family.

I second the idea of being able to contribute for something for his wife, or if he had children, maybe something for the kid(s) would be nice, so they can understand how many people their Dad touched.

Alex, I don’t want to pry, but what happened? Was this from the surgery itself? I simply wasn’t prepared to hear this.

By: Steve Lombardi

Steve Lombardi — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 21:52:55 +0000

There’s a line from “Tuesday’s with Morrie” that I like to share at times like these and it goes along the lines of “Death only ends life, it does not end relationships.” And, in case they’re reading, I’d like to offer that to Todd’s family.

While his physical presence has passed, Todd is not gone. He will always be with you, in your heart and minds.

I hope this thought helps, in some way, during this difficult time.