Brian Cohen's blog on The Gate eloquently spoke of underpressure. It's good reading. I recommend it.

I went in search of a couple of his posts that I remembered. Did you realize that he and his wife fostered 300 kids? (You have to be Omni enabled to read this.)

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/omni-...l#post10652205

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/omni-...l#post10651627

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/omni/...ml#post9990681

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/omni/...ml#post8394713

A lot of kids have lost out since he won't be able to live his retirement dream:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/omni/...ml#post8931923

For those who do not have access to the OMNI forum:Wow...

...but that was classic Jim.

Would it not be nice if that dream was realized anyway — even if not by Jim...

...or better yet — done in his memory?

A late story about Jim:

Several days before he died, I received an e-mail from him asking me to phone. I did not know he had been ill (he was never the kind to complain about himself) and when I reached him, he told me that he had been in the hospital for the past month.

He said that he had initially been diagnosed with cancer but that day his doctor told him that he had "cured himself" and the diagnosis had been wrong -- that he had been suffering from mono, but it had run its course and he would be discharged the next day.

When his sister told me a few days later that Jim was dying and has been moved to hospice, I was shocked. I couldn't imagine what had happened. Had the doctor lied to him to raise his morale? Had he been hallucinating? (His voice sounded strong and as we talked about various things he seemed completely coherent.)

I may be wrong, of course, but I believe that he asked me to call simply because he wanted to speak with me one last time and he made up the story about his cure simply because he neither wanted me to worry about him nor did he want any sympathy.

I am beyond words and had no idea he was ill.

May he RIP. He was one of the good guys.

posted 11.5 years ago >
http://www.masstransitmag.com/press_...gional-manager

Just stumbled onto this thread. UP and I regularly butted heads in bad OMNI, but he was also someone that I always thought I would enjoy having a beer with. He will be missed. RIP.

Same here. On the very few occasions he agreed with me about something, he would always say that we probably agreed on more than I realized. I still doubt that, but he'll be missed in these parts.

Well dammit.

UP, you are gone, but not forgotten, and you'll live on in the rest of us... and in my elevated blood pressure when I re-read some of your posts from time to time. Rest In Peace my friend, and say hello to St. Ronald the Reagan for me.

I'm genuinely going to miss butting heads with you.

Very Respectfully,
Tom

Very sad to hear of this. May he rest in peace.

It's always sad when one goes.

He was one of a handful on my ignore list, so I can't say I've read anything from him recently.

RIP UP

Wow, so sad RIP Jim.

So sad to hear this!

Offline Jim was overflowing with kindness and the perfect person with whom to talk through parenting concerns. I will be just many of the hundreds, if not thousands, who will miss him.

May UP rest in peace. He was a fine man and he will be missed. Condolences to his family.

Yes, me too. I am so sad the news about him. He will be missed. I actually don't know him. I can't remember him. I never met him before.

RIP Jim, a real loss to this community

I'm saddened to hear this; he livened up bad OMNI for a few years with his passionate views. My condolences to his family and friends.

I am deeply saddened by this news. RIP, UP.

Wow, I just learned this venturing onto good OMNI. How very sad. RIP.

RIP. He is gone far too soon.

For all of our differences we certainly had in common a deep affection for the Flyertalk community and it is some comfort to read how many people here shared that with Jim.

Sorry to hear this. I may have disagreed with him online, but it's always a sad day to hear someone you know has passed away. RIP!

Wow, I have almost no words. May you live on in the minds of all those kids you took in. I will miss you.

This is a huge loss to this website. His contributions are immeasurable and from what I understand he was a class act as a person. Sadly, I never got the chance to meet him. Rest in peace.

I was so looking forward to the campaign homestretch for 2016 and u.p. putting in the kind of effort seen in '08 and '12 (and maybe before) trying to win it for his candidate (as if it could be won here). Almost never agreed politically on /PR (better luck with SEC dominance on college football in the other OMNI). But he undeniably added color and will be missed. RIP.

Sad news, no matter who it is.

Reminds us of our own mortality.

God speed!

.

Oh mercy...last few years I've been in his neck of the woods a lot, and always meant to reach out and say hi, but never followed through for this silly reason or that. My family also fostered numerous children, and I always looked forward to the day when we could share some stories...

Just goes to show there actually a person behind the avatar. UP, you were something else.
I will miss you, and F/T will miss you.

I just wanted to add that I missed this news earlier. Thanks anrkitec for letting me know. I will, and already do, greatly miss seeing U/P here on FT.

I don't think I agreed with a single thing he posted online and I never met him offline. Reading through the tributes, I'm sorry I never had the chance.

RIP. And may your good works echo through the generations. We may never know how many lives we truly touch. I hope, somewhere, he will find out.

Just learned about that as I was searching for some old posts ... very sad. :( He was a great guy.

I met him as part of the Greasy Spoon DO in May, 2009: Brekkie at Waffle House, Lunch at the Varsity, dinner & boat trip at UP's house on the lake, definitely the highlight of the trip.

Did not know that, that's pretty incredible!

Did know that his youngest daughter was adopted.

I don't really participate on FT anymore, but as you can tell from my post count, I did once, and yes, UP was a part of my experience here, and while I never met him, he was almost always a voice of reason, with the occasional witty barb, like "Still bitter?" LOL He participated in good faith, everywhere you saw him.

I would never suggest I knew him better than those who knew him personally. I would say anyway, that I'm genuinely sorry to hear he passed, and I hope his loved ones know that he was respected and admired here (and probably everywhere he went). RIP, UP.

Looking back at my PM history I found a nice note from underpressure that I received after a somewhat nasty OmniPR exchange with another FTer. I did not know him and now I am sorry I did not have the opportunity to meet him.

It is a strange thing, these internet posting forums, where we are constantly communicating with complete strangers and often don't really know who they are or why they disappear...

While underpressure was repeatedly opposed to many of the things I had stated on FT -- whether it involved the airlines, a variety of travel topics and OMNI -- I found that his participation on FT made this place more lively, entertaining and fundamentally enjoyable for me than this place would have otherwise been. I do miss those days and his contributions here.

He was a good example of how people can disagree vigorously and still want to have a good time together despite those disagreements. May he RIP and people remember that it's not a bad thing to disagree and still get along.

He was a fine example of a person who cared.

Agreed - he was fair, he had a sense of humor, and (odd for an internet forum) had the humility to publicly admit on those occasions when he had changed his views on things.

He was the kind of guy who reached out to a complete stranger (me) to provide support after a vicious encounter with a rather abusive poster. RIP.