Thursday August 29, 2002 – The Staff of the HSB&R Remember Trav Slater
On August 29, 2001, an HSB&R columnist emeritus, dear friend to us all, and wonderful husband to Txredd suddenly left this mortal coil for the great hereafter. We are certain that the hereafter is a little greater as the result, and continue to think of him every day in many ways:
“Trav was witty, generous of spirit, irrefutably intelligent, and filled with a love of life. But to me, his biggest recommendation was that Deanna absolutely adored him as a husband. He’s missed dearly.” -DPRoberts
“I’m so glad that I got the chance to meet with Trav a couple of years ago on a business trip to the Windy City. Deanna and Trav opened their home and hearts to a “stranger” and kept me greatly entertained for two weeks. Truely appreciated as I would have been alone in a new city without a contact. Trav was all class and all brains, but also with a great love of baseball and politics (and, of course, Deanna). He could debate them all endlessly. Which he did on many occasions.” -Jimmy Impossible
“I had the honor and pleasure of spending a delightful afternoon and evening with Trav and Txredd in June of 2001. I could instantly sense the affection and bond between then, and how much they enjoyed being married and sharing their life together. Trav was a very rare person: he was smart (like super-scary-think-you-under-the-table smart), but had no airs about him. The thing he seemed to enjoy was good conversation about almost any topic, from law to baseball and everything in between. Although we only had a chance to hang out for a couple of hours (during which time he got me mighty tipsy), I knew that I’d met a friend and someone who I would like to spend time with again in the future. His passing makes me feel like I have lost out on a great opportunity to become closer with Trav, and it saddens me immensely.” -Poster Boy
“I only directly spoke to Trav once, witty banter in the “let’s gang up on the Americans” mould. He was a vivacious character. Perhaps a month later he passed on. It’s shocks like that that make you realize just how precious life is. Trav instinctively knew this and he made the best of his time. His may not have been a long life, but it was a full one.” -Huy
“Whenever you think of some generic smart guy, people usually say something like ‘rocket scientist’ or ‘brain surgeon’. You could say that someone was smart enough to be a brain surgeon – or even a brain researcher – and that would be a fine compliment indeed. But nobody ever says ‘funny as a brain researcher’, or ‘gracious as a brain researcher’, or ‘charming as a brain researcher’.
Maybe they should.
When someone is very smart, and very talented, and very good at what they do, there is a tendency to think that they are not other things. Trav Slater was a kind and warmhearted person who was also very relaxed, had a great sense of humor, and a genuine love for life. He was one of my favorite people in the world, and I am glad that I got to spend the time with him that I did.” -Curtis “Blueduck” Edmonds
“I never had the pleasure to meet Trav, coming along to the whole ’scene’ earlier this year. However, what I do know is that any man who could evoke such widespread praise and adoration among a community had to be one amazingly special individual. He lives on in every person he touched during his time here, and strangely enough I feel like I am getting to know him more and more each day through these same people. My thoughts go out to Txredd, one of the strongest and kindest women I have the pleasure of naming as my friend, and any man who could make you as happy as Trav did must have been a true treasure.” -Horlicks
From Beavis Las Vegas to Trav: “How did you get so smart? You rule T!!! You are missed by all, especially by a certain redhead.”
“Both Cristina and I met Trav on the HSB&R trip to Las Vegas. What an intelligent, charming, and whimsical guy…as apt to regale you with a detailed description of how the brain functions as to muse on the fact that he learned to speak Welsh just so he could live in the Welsh dormitory at college in England. We’re glad we met him, glad we broke bread with him, glad we shared drink with him.” -Mr. Hub
“I had the pleasure of meeting Trav twice, once in Vegas, and once in Chicago, for his wedding to Deanna. The one thing that always comes to mind when thinking about him is his accent. Most of the time, it sounded British, but occasionally some Southern Georgia accent would sneak out, and it was just the oddest thing. I also remember his weird sense of humor, and the sorta *wink wink* *nudge nudge* look he’d give when thinking up something weird. -James “Airen” Pancoast
“Sadly I never knew Trav or even spoke to him, at least not that I can remember. I consider it my loss…” -Al Franken
“It was a very sad day in my life when Trav passed. Even though I had only meet him a couple of times, I felt I knew him well, thanks to Deanna’s many stories.” -Jimmy Impossible
It was a truly sad day, indeed. I personally recall learning about the events of that day via e-mail from Mr. Impossible here, who had talked to Deanna via ICQ just hours after Trav passed away. I didn’t believe it to be true, and instead focused on the fact that Deanna was capable of using a computer, even for a few minutes, during such a crisis. In the midst of the worst grief imaginable, she turned to her friends. She knew how much we love both of them.
I was fortunate to get to spend a very long and highly enjoyable evening in Trav’s house a couple of months prior to the day he died – Deanna entertained myself and DPRoberts and Selat to a feast fitting of a gathering of such personalities. Trav tried to explain his science to me over a glass of wine on the back porch at some point, and it was almost comical how he couldn’t possibly dumb it down enough to carry on a conversation. He was a genius. So he expertly steered the conversation to the National League Central, a subject he guessed we both had in common. Unfortunately, he was a dirty rotten Cubs fan, but I let it slide. You couldn’t argue with this guy – his verbal defenses were solid rock.
The image of that evening that will never leave my head was that of Trav greeting his friends as they arrived with a hug, and then saying goodbye with the same when time came for them to leave.
There aren’t enough people like Trav in the world, as it is. I know that it sounds strange to miss a person that you only knew a little bit, but I do.
Fielding, of course, says it best- “I never met or spoke to Trav. I only knew him as a reflection in the heart of a great lady. Trav made Deanna shine, and that will always be his legacy for me.”
Rest in peace, friend. We miss you.
Randydeluxe