Have you ever really "known" something - - but were really afraid to find out for sure - - - well, I am most guilty - - last March I sent an e-mail to a friend of mine who I knew had been diagnosed with cancer inquiring as to how he was doing - - knowing it was difficult for him to answer, I waited (and hoped) I would hear back - - 8 days later, I received this E-mail - -"
Hi, Charlie!
Just spent six days in the hospital--some kind of infection related to the chemo. We have asked the doctors to discontinue the chemo since it seems to be causing more harm than good. My hand is very shaky and it's hard to type accurately. Perhaps in a few days, when I get all the hospital drugs flushed out of me, I can send you more. (I had to retype almost every sentence in this message because of typos.)
Thanks for checking,
Mike
That was the last correspondence I received from him - - and deep down I knew it was the last I would ever hear - - Mike and I had been collaborating on putting together a book surrounding the sinking of the Grand Glaize, a sightseeing boat which capsized over Memorial Day weekend in 1954, which still holds the record as the single most fatal boating accident on the Lake of the Ozarks as 8 souls were lost in that tragedy. Even while undergoing treatment, Mike gathered and researched hundreds of pages of court testimony and followed leads for background information. Mike wrote many stories about Lake area history and we worked together on the River Monsters filming and story back in April of 2011 which was loosely based on the Grand Glaize incident.
There is not enough room on this blog (or the web) to describe Mike and how much he will be missed -
Although, I am embarrassed that it has taken me this long to accept his fate - but it can NEVER be to late to remember him, his work and to express my most deepest sympathy to his family.
Mike was also a writer for The Pointe Newspaper, in Grain Valley, MO - - I believe that POINTE staff writer Christopher Fischer wrote the best tribute to Mike in his article "
There is not enough room on this blog (or the web) to describe Mike and how much he will be missed -
Although, I am embarrassed that it has taken me this long to accept his fate - but it can NEVER be to late to remember him, his work and to express my most deepest sympathy to his family.
Mike was also a writer for The Pointe Newspaper, in Grain Valley, MO - - I believe that POINTE staff writer Christopher Fischer wrote the best tribute to Mike in his article "
From publishing books, to traveling rivers by steamboat, to cycling the circumference of Pluto, Michael Gillespie’s was a life well-lived
PLEASE READ HIS ARTICLE -- HERE
MISS YOU MIKE - - FAREWELL
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