Len Sassaman has passed away • Hacker News Board

Re: Len Sassaman has passed away

#41

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Jul 06, 2011, 5:05 AM UTC

maradydd wrote: post #14

lemmata wrote: post #6

His wife's Twitter account (@maradydd) appears to corroborate this. A tragic loss, especially considering his age (I don't know, but I'd estimate ~35). At that age, it would almost have to be an accident or suicide, and I'm fervently hoping that it was an accident.

Unfortunately no; it was unambiguously suicide. Depression is a horrible, horrible thing, both for those who experience it and the people who love them. Len was a brilliant, sensitive, loving man with the rotten luck to be too tormented by his own brain chemistry to realise how much he was valued by so many people, no matter how often we told him. He was 31.

[deleted]

Re: Len Sassaman has passed away

#42

Post by nanazom » Wed, Jul 06, 2011, 6:06 AM UTC

Meredith, I am so sorry. A gentle man. I was there for the wonderful on-stage proposal at CodeCon. I didn't realize he was so young. He will be missed for many years by many people. --Nana

Re: Len Sassaman has passed away

#43

Post by leaderkam » Wed, Jul 06, 2011, 3:31 PM UTC

maradydd wrote: post #14

lemmata wrote: post #6

His wife's Twitter account (@maradydd) appears to corroborate this. A tragic loss, especially considering his age (I don't know, but I'd estimate ~35). At that age, it would almost have to be an accident or suicide, and I'm fervently hoping that it was an accident.

Unfortunately no; it was unambiguously suicide. Depression is a horrible, horrible thing, both for those who experience it and the people who love them. Len was a brilliant, sensitive, loving man with the rotten luck to be too tormented by his own brain chemistry to realise how much he was valued by so many people, no matter how often we told him. He was 31.

Len was a huge part of my young teen years back in Pottstown Pa...I remember burning our first CD together (11 hours) playing the Hill Schools version of Zorg and of course YMCA Leaders. We grew apart and only communicated on occasion over the past few years. I don't know what I can do or say I am truly at a complete loss as to what to do or say, if anyone knows who to get in touch with it would be a great help. Leaderkam at gmail.

Re: Len Sassaman has passed away

#44

Post by burtonator » Wed, Jul 06, 2011, 11:57 PM UTC

maradydd wrote: post #14

lemmata wrote: post #6

His wife's Twitter account (@maradydd) appears to corroborate this. A tragic loss, especially considering his age (I don't know, but I'd estimate ~35). At that age, it would almost have to be an accident or suicide, and I'm fervently hoping that it was an accident.

Unfortunately no; it was unambiguously suicide. Depression is a horrible, horrible thing, both for those who experience it and the people who love them. Len was a brilliant, sensitive, loving man with the rotten luck to be too tormented by his own brain chemistry to realise how much he was valued by so many people, no matter how often we told him. He was 31.

Really sorry to hear this.. I only new Len from the few times we hung out around Code Con in San Francisco and he was always amazingly nice, constructive, and curious about anything regarding computer science, tech, and generally a fun guy.

Sad to find out this news. :-(

Re: Len Sassaman has passed away

#45

Post by fyrfitrmedic » Thu, Jul 07, 2011, 5:46 PM UTC

My most heartfelt condolences to Meredith et. al. I crossed paths with Len only briefly during his days at Netaxs; he was without a doubt one of the most brilliant people I've ever encountered and one of those I most enjoyed conversing with.

It's been years; when I got work from a colleague from the Netaxs days, I was an am still stunned.

Re: Len Sassaman has passed away

#46

Post by SandySandfort » Thu, Jul 07, 2011, 11:07 PM UTC

I am so sorry. Yes, Len was brilliant, but he was also a truly good human being. I don't think he had a mean bone in his body and he was always pleasant and of good humor. What a loss.

Re: Len Sassaman has passed away

#47

Post by IBKECP3 » Thu, Jul 14, 2011, 9:12 PM UTC

maradydd wrote: post #14

lemmata wrote: post #6

His wife's Twitter account (@maradydd) appears to corroborate this. A tragic loss, especially considering his age (I don't know, but I'd estimate ~35). At that age, it would almost have to be an accident or suicide, and I'm fervently hoping that it was an accident.

Unfortunately no; it was unambiguously suicide. Depression is a horrible, horrible thing, both for those who experience it and the people who love them. Len was a brilliant, sensitive, loving man with the rotten luck to be too tormented by his own brain chemistry to realise how much he was valued by so many people, no matter how often we told him. He was 31.

LeaderKam, I was in Teen Leaders with you, and I went to Hill with Len. I'm sure you can deduce who I am from that. I'm sorry for your loss, it's quite a shock to me even if we lost contact after Hill. RIP Len.