Dan The Man

I'm not good with Death. Who is? But the Grim Reaper seems to be following behind in my fat footprints (Triple EEE) for as long as I can remember. 

For brevity sakes I won't list them here, suffice to say, I first experienced death at when I was 5 years old. On the way for a joyful summer at our Catskills bungalow colony, we were flagged down by a frantic young woman. I watched as my father and my uncle tried to help an old man who was having a heart attack on Route 17, right near the Ellenville exit. 

He didn't make it. The pain of that young woman losing her father on the side of the road was unbearable. For her. And for me.

Last Thursday Le Muerte paid another visit. A shocking one. My friend and former colleague Dan Duffy passed. At the age of 57. 

I still have to swallow twice to comprehend this. 

In addition to being exceedingly young, Dan was exceedingly nice.  Like Midwest/Pacific Northwest nice. Given all the people in this business that are not so nice, it made him quite special. In fact he was always asking how my daughters were doing and offered to help any way he could. 

In addition to being generous with his time, Dan also had a razor sharp wit. And a finely honed sense of sarcasm. Here's a demonstrative snippet of an exchange we had via LinkedIn Messenger, just 6 weeks ago, after my daughter landed a job at Cartel Editing...

Back in 2001, my partner John Shirley and I, did a job with Dan and the Hungryman team. We did a one day shoot in NYC with Director Bryan Buckley. The 12 hour day was wrapped in 8 hours. With barely three takes for each scene. That never happens. It was the fastest, smoothest, most efficient shoot I've ever been on. 

What I remember most about Dan was his beginnings, which not surprisingly coincided with mine. In the early 90's at Chiat. He was one of a handful of AV guys along with, Jon W. and Sean B. These guys  actually shot video (on 3/4" tape) at my wedding, which my late wife and I sadly never watched. 

They were all in their early 20's. All had a slightish build. And none of them were ever gonna play in the NBA. I'll leave it at that.

But they were all possessed by an energy, and perhaps ambition, that knew no bounds. Literally. If a production or a pitch required a left-handed, bright pink pogo stick with an oversized clown horn on the stem, these guys would come back with 3 viable options. 

And two others, as back up.

I'm not sure you'd see that today at an ad agency getting ready for a TV shoot (if agencies still did that kind of thing). Maybe it was the Lee Clow factor. Or maybe because what was to become VBE (Venice Beach Editorial) was the best damn agency production department on the planet. 

Dan was emblematic of a quiet "can-do" attitude that defined the agency in those days. Also not surprisingly, Dan (as well as Jon and Sean) went on to become hugely successful. What fool said nice guys finish last?

Knowing how Dan poured himself into his work, I can easily surmise that he brought that same zeal, determination, wit and warmth to his friends and family. I hope they can in some way be comforted by the outpouring of love for Dan, who touched so many people. The loss is real.

I've been uttering this mournful phrase with too much frequency lately, but I'll say it again, may Dan's memory be a blessing.

----------------------------------------------

Addendum: I was able to hunt down an early ESPN SportsCenter spot featuring a young Dan Duffy. The good folks at Hungryman Productions (Thanks Caleb) found this needle in the haystack of more than 1000 SportsCenter spots. Look for Dan as the young Production Assistant schlepping a stack of 3/4 inch videotapes at about the 12 second mark.

https://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/17389520