It is with a sadness that I can’t even begin to describe that I bring you some very bad news.  Rodney O. Lain, the iBrotha, has passed away.

Rodney has been battling depression for some time, and he took his own life on Friday.  He is survived by his wife, Irma.

I am working on something to say from my heart, but I can’t stop crying long enough to get it out.  When I do, I will add it to this thread.  I will say now that Rodney was my friend, I loved him, I respected him, and I admired him.  His writing is what I have been most proud to publish at TMO.  He will be missed by his friends in the Mac world, his friends in the non-online world, and his family everywhere.

Goodbye, iBrotha.

I, too, am speechless.  Though I did not know him personally, and my conversations with him were limited to late-night IMs and forum posts, I still feel his death greatly.  His columns here at TMO were among my favorite to read, and I felt I got to know him through them.  It is hard to express what I feel at the moment, but it can be assured that I, along with many others, will miss iBrotha deeply.

My heart goes out to his friends and family.

:tear:

I can’t believe it. Rodney was a great guy, and he will be sorely missed by anyone that knew him.

I don’t know what else to say. *sigh*

Goodbye, Rodney.

My contact with iBrotha has also been limited to a few IM’s and forum posts, but I felt close to him, both as a fellow Mac-head and Minnesotan. I really have no idea what to say, other than he will truely be missed.

Good bye iBrotha.

I am deeply lost at this sad news.  I regret that I did not know Rodney as well as some of the others people here, but his writings always made me laugh and reflect.  Thank you.  If only words could express my feelings at this time.  You will always be remembered, Rodney.

Rodney’s family has my condolences. I truly wish I had something more insightful to say, but I know that I and many others will miss him. Rest in peace.

Words either fail me or seem woefully inadequate to express what I’m feeling.

I respected and admired Rodney, and felt it a privelege to have been on the same team with him, a team which he encouraged me to join.

I will miss him, and my thoughts and sympathy go out to his family.

Goodbye, Rodney O. Lain.

Bummer

I had the pleasure of meeting Rodney at one of the recent MacWorld shows, and also enjoyed his spirited writings, as well as an occasional chat session.

He’ll be missed by me, as well as the rest of the Mac community.

Like most TMO readers, I didn’t know Rodney personally but I sure feel great hurt learning of this.

Rodney, you will be missed.

Rest In Peace Brotha Man.

The shock and instant pain I felt when reading this post, the pain I feel now for a person I never knew, only in his words.

Rest in peace Rodney O. Lain, I will read every word you ever wrote and not forget. You will always be the gifted writer you are, no one can ever take that away from you and I’ll will carry your thoughts and messages with me on my journey threw life and help you complete what you could not in this life.

My heart goes out to his family.

Raena and I are both shocked and saddened by the news of Rodney’s passing. Although he chose not to cry out to his friends for help, there’s no doubt that all that knew him would have stood in line for the chance.
I know I would have.

Rodney, I hope you have finally found the peace you were seeking. Farewell friend.

-Dan

It was with great sadness that Bryan and I learned the news of Rodney’s passing.  I lift a glass to him, and hope he is at peace.

I don’t have much to say, but I echo the sentiments of all who have posted here.  The world and the Mac community have lost someone who made us laugh, think, and even angry sometimes.

We will miss you Rodney.

Yo, Brotha.

Y’know, I’m kind of glad I followed you over here after the applelust forums’ Great Debate of ‘01. Man, that was great fun, civilised flame warfare and all.  And you wrote me an e-mail to say welcome when I turned up here and you called me ‘sister’, and I was all like “Whoaaaa! Hero worship!!”

I wish I’d told you that.  I don’t know, maybe I did and just didn’t make enough of a big deal.  I mean, you’re the man (as opposed to The Manâ„¢).  I hope you know that.  You really are the bomb.

I was saving up some dirty jokes for next time I saw you on AIM; I owe you about ten or fifteen of those.  Thanks for the Jaguar preview through Snapperhead, too.

Me and Dan, we’re going to watch Blazing Saddles for you. I promise to p*ss off some people for you sooner or later.  There’s gotta be somebody you haven’t enraged yet.

Night, Rodney.

I never talked him or anything like that, but when I read this I felt very sad and yes TMO, all your friends and of course you family will miss you Rodney O. Lain.

I have lurked here for many a moon, but I felt compelled to post this morning.

Rodney was just here with me in Atlanta three weeks ago; he was down for his brother’s college graduation. We grabbed a few drinks, and gabbed for hours. I had no clue that anything like this was in the offing.

He and I had become good friends over the last year or so - fellow travelers, if you will - we shared a lot of insight on writing and politics and life. Like I, he was a black conservative himself, and just finding out that there were more of us out there than he realized.

I’m still in shock this morning.

It’s a hell of a way to spend Father’s Day.

It makes me more thankful for my family here, and to know that they love me, but this is still a shock to the system. So I ask for your prayers for Rodney’s wife, Irma. I have never met her, nor talked to her, but she does need prayers through a difficult week.

And to be selfish (and I apologize in advance for my selfishness), I could use your prayers as well - this one hurts.

I saw him once at an Apple convention in the cities. I recognized him, pointed him out to my girlfriend, but never approached him, cause I wasn’t 100% sure it was him (I’d only read his articles…)

I emailed him that night to ask if he was infact there, and wearing the black apple shirt, and he replied that yes, that was infact him, and I should have stopped and said hello.

We swapped a few emails, and I thought he was a good guy.

I wish we could have stopped him.