Jeremy
My friend, Jeremy Mullins, died on Saturday. He was hiking in New York with his girlfriend, when he slipped off the path and fell 50 feet to his death.
This is the third one of these memoriams I’ve done in as many weeks, but this is the first time I’ve actually known the person I was memorializing.
Jeremy and I were both in the Sequential Art graduate program at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) at the same time. For a while, we were even roommates. Among other common interests and experiences, we shared a mutual love for the Perez/Wolfman-era New Teen Titans and an unforgettable trip to Mardi Gras. Jeremy Mullins had a big personality. He knew how to have a good time, he had a raucous, raunchy sense of humor, and by his own admission, he could be an asshole at times. However, he was an important figure in bringing my girlfriend and myself together, and I am thankful to him for his part in that.
In recent years, Jeremy and I had grown apart, as people are prone to do as time, circumstances, and distance intervene, but through friends and via the occasional, incidental meeting, I managed to keep abreast of his activities. Jeremy eventually became a professor at SCAD in Savannah, Georgia, where he taught Webcomics. He was bringing Sequential Art to the generation that would carry it forward, in its new form, into the future. By all accounts, he was having the time of his life doing so. Too bad it was cut short. He was thirty-two years old.
- JEP
06/15/09 – Update on the accident from The Daily Freeman.
Jay, I’m so sorry for your loss. A lovely tribute.
Thanks, Lisa. I appreciate that, and I hope all is well with you.
- JEP
Yes, he had a knack for making people ask girls out, didn’t he? I share your praises and damnations, and color my regrets with the happiness of having known him during good times.
Mardi Gras I can barely remember that. Those old days at Island Tree, good or bad they were never boring with Jeremy. His legacy should be the webcomics he inspired his students and peers alike to create. You can still read parts of his thesis on webcomics at
http://www.wadeaccosted.com. Read the articles under news. They are excellent, and along with http://www.webcomics.com, they are invaluable to anyone looking to create webcomics. We had drifted apart. We still lived in the same city,but were not the friends we once were. Part of me is sad about that. I wished we had made time to resolve our differences, even if we could not have been the close friends we once were. Jeremy, you died too soon.
Well said, sirs. Well said.
- JEP
I remember you talking about him…I’m so sorry to hear this.
Terribly sad news. Thinking of all those folks who knew Jeremy much better than I did.
I’m one of the old, old friends – back from high school and I’m smiling because I know I own the “original” Dirty Sanchez character Jeremy drew for me upon request. Now I love it even more. He was a nice guy to those cared and I think he would have loved reading all your great comments. He’ll be missed.
Thanks for checking in J. Miller. I also think that somewhere, in The Great Beyond, Jeremy is partying his ass off and giggling like a madman while he draws Tijuana bibles for Einstein and Abraham Lincoln.
- JEP
Jay, I was touched by your memoriam of Jeremy. I know you and Josh knew him during some good times. I feel grateful to Jeremy for bringing Josh and Sophia together. He was always kind to me when I visited Josh in Savannah, as were you. I’m sorry you lost your friend.
Kristin Gillin – Josh’s sister
Thank you, Kris. I think Josh really did sum it up better than I have. No matter what may have happened in subsequent years, we’ll always remember those good times and there is no way we can doubt the positive, profound impact Jeremy had in our lives.
I hope you’re doing OK, and it’s really great to hear from you.
- JEP
So say we all, Do-Gooder. And a personal thanks from me to you and Noelle.
It’s the least we could do. As always, if you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to let us know.
And stay in touch, my evil homunculus doppelganger!
- JEP