Mourning a Friend

I have terribly sad news to share: a dear friend has died. CJ Hosier, a university friend with whom I acted in plays, died in his sleep at the astonishingly young age of 34.

He was funny, faithful, energetic, eccentric, hard-working, multi-talented, generous, and positive, bringing happy energy into others' lives--a kind spirit and a good friend. I have great memories of being on stage with him, of performing improv with him, of working backstage with him, of hanging out on campus with him, and especially of attending parties with him. CJ was always a benign, friendly, humorous presence at a party, equally at ease with being the center of attention or watching from the side. Great guy all around.

After university, he moved back to Denver and made a name for himself in the theatre scene there--so much so that the Denver Post ran a multi-media article on him this week. Check it out for a slideshow of him in some notable roles in Denver, an audio clip of an interview with him a couple years ago, and an article about him that features praise from a wide variety of people, each of whose life he brightened by simply being in it. You'll get a good impression of the type of man he was by reading others' words about him.

[ADDED FEB. 6: And his obituary from the Rocky Mountain News is here.]

My friends from our university days are spread across the country, and I don't hear from them all frequently; but we've been in contact this week, exchanging condolences and sharing some of our favorite memories of CJ. It's polite to share only positive stories and not to mention the negative when a person dies, but in CJ's case, we likely couldn't come up with something negative if we tried. This may sound cliché, but he truly was a man who brought goodness into the lives of everyone who was lucky enough to get to know him.

Rest in peace, CJ.