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Stories about John PontePosted by timboudreau on September 9, 2006 at 4:10 AM PDT
I got word this evening that my friend from college, and later colleague at Sun, John Ponte has died. Being stuck in a Seattle hotel room with nothing to do but ruminate, I thought I'd share a few stories about him. Given that most of our circle of friends have been online since the 80's, I hope some others will find this page and add theirs.
John was one of the administrators of the system. You could get online from the dorms, but whenever conversation on Confer got heated and interesting, the buffer pushing data to your 300 baud acousticouple modem would be flooded and you'd be timed out and miss everything. So the terminal room was the gathering place. One of the other admins of the system was the gatekeeper to the community via a simple technique: he would mercilessly hit on anyone who logged in for the first time, be they male or female, with lots of S&M overtones. If you couldn't handle that, you'd probably never dare to log in again. This was to scare the mundanes away. It worked. My first-ever electronic chat began with a man I didn't know announcing to me "I am a bottom." I think I replied that I was a left-side. Apparently I passed the test. I really got to know John the summer of 1988 - my girlfriend Mara rented a room in the house he lived in. John had had severe problems with depression at a young age. He was quite matter of fact about it being biological and simply something he had to live with and take medication for. Aside from meds which imposed severe dietary restrictions, he had a unique and memorable way of dealing with it: Do anything that looked like fun, no matter how ridiculous. "Anything" tended to heavily biased toward physical comedy and practical jokes.
I Really Need a ShowerOne morning I staggered downstairs, and was rinsing a coffee cup at the kitchen sink. I muttered to no one in particular "I really need a shower." Seconds later I am drenched from head to toe with icy water. John had gone out the back door, and come back in with the garden hose, and hosed down me and the rest of the kitchen. I wasn't too happy at that moment, but someone choosing to use the garden hose indoors was so totally unexpected that I was laughing in spite of myself.This led to a host of other ingenious indoor uses for the garden hose...which eventually came to an end after the linoleum in the kitchen started coming up - the floorboards had to dry out enough to glue it back down.
We're Not Drunk Enough to Work on an Italian Car!John had a Fiat, aka The Galileo (his online handle was Spock), from the early seventies. He had an idea that if he could get it past one million miles of travel, he could convince Fiat to give him a new one. It was close to half way there. It was in constant urgent need of attention; that summer he was setting up an inventory system for International Auto Parts in Florence, Massachusetts - I suspect the work there helped slake The Galileo's never-ending thirst for parts.
John did his once a year off-the-meds month that summer, which was a bacchanal of pizza, beer and other normally forbidden foods. On another morning that July I got up at seven AM or so. I was working mornings at Augie's Tobacco Shop in Amherst (a truly surreal bit of employment - but that's a story for another day). This was a Saturday and I was not working. I sit down at the kitchen table with my coffee, and John takes the coffee, pours it out and replaces it with an 18oz beer. "We're not drunk enough to work on an Italian car," he says. Well, drunk we got and work we did. I don't remember Mara being too happy when she got up at ten to find us reeking of beer and WD-40. I also don't know that anything got fixed. But it sure was fun.
The Flour CannonThis is a story I didn't witness - but it is so typically John, and I heard it so many times, that it is etched in my memory as if I'd been there.Returning from a trip to the grocery, it occurred to John that it would be fun to empty a bag of flour over our friend Andy's head. This, of course, left a huge pile of flour on the kitchen floor (not to mention on Andy). Naturally, it needed to be cleaned up. That only led to another opportunity for mayhem: An upright Hoover vacuum will clean up flour. But it's much more interesting if you remove the bag. Thus was born The Flour Cannon. I don't know that the results were ever completely cleaned up.
John was the one person I knew from our little online community in the 80's who kept in touch with everyone - I couldn't believe how many people I'd lost touch with whose lives he could tell me about when I saw him last year. We got together a few times after college, whenever I was passing through Colorado on one of my between-contracts road-trips. He had dropped all the meds sometime in the early nineties, and as he told it, drove nonstop from Massachusetts to Colorado with a box of Wheat Thins for sustenance. When NetBeans was acquired by Sun in 1999, I did some name searches, figuring that one or two of our very peculiar group from the Cyber at UMass must be working here. And sure enough, John was working for Sun in Colorado. And was doing well - as funny as ever, and as smart as ever, and working as a sysadmin in Sun's Broomfield office. I last saw him a bit over a year ago; he was in great shape, happy with his job at a startup there and doing well. We talked for hours later by phone - he was planning the world's most obnoxious baby shower gifts for Mara and Neal, and making sure everyone from Cyber was part of the conspiracy. Captain Underpants figured heavily in the plans. I can't really imagine a world without him in it.
If you knew John Ponte, and have a story you'd like to tell about him, you're welcome to share it or a link to it below. I'm sure others of us would enjoy reading them, and perhaps they can be gathered together for his family, if that seems appropriate. »
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Submitted by corum on Sat, 2006-09-09 08:30.
145db of Tears for Fears
Yet another 'very John thing.' The last summer I lived at home I had a job working for a distributor of the Boston Globe. This involved - among other things - getting to a warehouse in the middle of an apartment complex 30 miles south of Boston at about 2am to meet the truck coming in from Boston with the papers, and getting them separated into routes for the paperboys and route drivers. One morning a bit after 3 I was waiting - impatiently - for the truck to arrive when the phone rang. Desparately hoping the person about to call in sick or with car trouble didn't have 400 papers I was going to have to deal with I answered the phone. A familiar voice asked "Is Neal Lastname working there?" to which I answered "Yes I am." The response was "Oh, yes you are eh?" followed by a loud and hearty exclaimation of "Baghead!" And a click. So I figure John is monkeying with his medicine, more than a little manic, and unable to sleep out in Amherst. *BZZZT* Less than five minutes later, I hear the unmistakeable sound of John's then-favorite cassette - Tears for Fears' Songs from the Big Chair - and I expect to see the Fiat or the Charger pull around the corner at any second. But it just keeps getting louder. Eventually, the beatup blue Fiat comes around the corner. I would never have guessed that you could get that much volume out of a Fiat. Did I mention that the warehouse was in the middle of an apartment complex. Or that it was around 3am? ...But even with the trouble I got in for having noisy friends, Shout never sounded quite so good. Actually, I can feel it Staying with loud, there was once a place called Andy's Pizza. It was just south of UMass Amherst's Southwest residential area. They had a jukebox. The jukebox had a volume control, and John had found it. The jukebox also had the Quiet Riot single 'Cum on, Feel the Noize' ..and John had turned it up so far that you could. We were encouraged to call for delivery. -Neal/Corum
Submitted by jyklukas on Sat, 2006-09-09 09:31.
I remember....
...Spock helping Jim fix a hole in his exhaust pipe with a Coke can and duct tape (hint: don't try this at home, at least not without nose plugs)
...and then teaching Jim how to drive standard in the Fiat in the local shopping center parking lot and having the cops stop by to see why people are doing donuts at 1 AM.
...aiming the windshield wiper fluid nozzle on the PVTA bus so it would squirt jaywalkers.
...the rallying cry "PWAH!"
I miss you,John.
- Johnna/Romana
Submitted by epanther on Sat, 2006-09-09 12:49.
Just one? Not possible. John was one of the best friends I've ever had, and certainly is responsible for some of the memories that are most important to me.
Nailing the chairs to the walls of his apartment.
How many people CAN you fit in the shower?
Spicy food - so spicy your eyes were watering just from being in the kitchen.
Scrambled eggs with cinnamon. And he didn't even EAT eggs then!
John took care of me in so many ways, I always loved him in ways I could never express in words - not to him, anyway.
I'm a little overwhelmed to be coherent right now, but reading everyone else's thoughts is bringing tears and smiles at the same time.
Spock-wad, I will always have you in my heart.
Submitted by jabusheery on Sat, 2006-09-09 14:26.
I remember the aftermaths I always walked in after things happened. I remember walking in after a flour and water fight, I was asked to help clean up the house because some Parents were coming over the next day. And I see the mess and John looking at me and saying "Water and Flour make Paste!".
I remember him writing to do lists on the wall in the kitchen, only to find out Dry Erase doesn't work on a painted wall.
I remember him trying to teach me to cook. I was delared a cook when I started a fire boling water. And I learned the smoke detect is just another kitchen timer to let you know dinner was ready.
He put cinnamon in everything and baking soda in tomato sauce so you didn't get heartburn.
I remember him yelling at me from the driveway once. I had driven Mara's car back from Sunderland and he needed to move it. He got into the car and yelled loud enough that all the neighbors around heard "Jennifer, you are too short, I just hit my nuts on the steering wheel!"
I remember the year I turned 21, he was off his meds. Neither of us remembered much of that summer.
And more recently when his gift for Mara and Neal's baby arrived at my house for the baby shower I asked if it was safe for public consumption, he insisted it was... it wasn't.
I will miss you John. Hloe!
-Jennifer/Daphne
Submitted by gemi9 on Sat, 2006-09-09 21:13.
He was never too busy to answer a question, even if the question seemed utterly clueless (as most of my computer questions were at the time). But what I remember the most was John's unerring sweetness--perhaps this isn't something he showed to most of the world, but I was privilaged to see this side of him. You knew that things affected him very deeply, but he didn't talk a lot about it--one word said usually left ten words unsaid, but he felt for everyone who was troubled. He made me feel grateful that he was my friend.
Godspeed, dear friend.
Deb/Auriga
Submitted by grot on Sat, 2006-09-09 22:02.
More than John, I miss a time when John was part of my life. I admit, I've fallen out of touch with 99 percent of the folks I knew from the terminal room, and from UMSFS. Sargon had to track me down through hints and google searches and coded comments on a public web page. I'm glad he did.
In many ways, John was a "grown up" to me. I came to UMass way to young -- I couldn't drive when I got there. So naturally, having someone around who could not only drive, but drive a bus and help fill it up with milk crates to the savage cry of "Pwah!" was an important step up in the world for me.
It was a really scary, crazy, wonderful and humbling part of my life. Many of you were part of it, and now 20 years have gone by, and I realize there's a hole in there where y'all used to be. If we all met in one giant room, let's face it, the first hour or so would be awkward as hell. Little pods of us that have kept in touch would gravitate to each other, and instead of the 40 folks who would decend on the campus center, there would 12 groups of 3 and a few of us sitting uncomfortably alone. All our conversations would start with "sooo.... how have hhe last 20 years treated you?"
Of course, if Spock had been in the room, we'd all be doing something stupid within 10 minutes, and it all would have been fine. That was his gift. And no matter how far we've all gone our separate ways, the world will be that little bit colder now.
Peace: Grot/Dave/
mail atsign nadigdotcom
Submitted by rod_serling on Sat, 2006-09-09 22:23.
John was always just a fun guy to be around. I'm pretty sure it was he and Steve Halpin who got into a tickle fight that wound up crashing into a full fish-tank. He started the one major food-fight I've ever been in at a public restaurant, it's a wonder we didn't get arrested.
At the beginning of 1986, people voted for various made-up awards for members of our community. Here's what John received:
mdickerman at gmaildotcom
Submitted by tcorning on Sun, 2006-09-10 00:49.
I guess I was one of the lucky ones who knew John pretty well in the early days. John and I ran the first "Pwah!" mission to get milk crates for him to move out of his dorm room in Spring 1985. That night we got 19 milk crates (stored them in my dorm room, woke up my roommate loading them in!) and a couch. The couch is the more interesting part.
John taught me to drive, in both the Starship Dodge and the Fiat. I remember when we were in the Fiat and I wasn't doing too well since it was a stick, and John told me to get out of the car and look into the vents just under the windshield wiper fluid spitters. I looked in, squinting, and saw a bumper sticker that read, "Are we having fun yet?" John just laughed in that way he had and took a drag from his cigarette. I am pretty sure I was even with John during the aforementioned mission to bug Neil at work. John showed up at my house one night and said we had a mission. We didn't know Neil worked "for a distributor of the Boston Globe", so we first went into Dorchester to the Boston Globe headquarters, and they pointed us to the place on the South Shore where Neil actually worked. This probably coincided with John teaching me to drive the Fiat. Then of course there were the various McManus runs in the middle of the night, which reminds you just how tough it is to find an all-night place out there. I wish I could remember them better, but the middle of the night isn't the best time for forming long-term memories. But I remember they were a lot of fun. I think of John whenever I hear "Urgent" by Foreigner - it was like a theme song for him. He often had the boombox in his car cued to it waiting for just the right time. Sometimes the right time was just cruising through some small town in the middle of the night on the way back to Amherst. John always seemed to see the best in everyone, and every situation, which is certainly something to strive for. Ted/Kismet tcorning at comcast.net
Submitted by regnad on Sun, 2006-09-10 03:58.
Too many - the Yamaha from hell that we assembled down to the last bold in my garage -broke off the stud and tore it all out of the frame and did it all on a new frame in 30 minutes...
The starship (if you have to ask...) in my garage kitty-corner because it wouldn't fit any other way as we did a front brake/rotor job on it in mid-winter... And the computer center --- "What does THIS button do?" Damn. There's gonna be a big hole in the world... Peter deFriesse
Submitted by bcinque on Sun, 2006-09-10 06:51.
As many other posters have indicated there are so many
stories to post about John. To this day I still chuckle about his cleaning
techniques.
Brian:
"John lets go brew some beer"
John: "Need to clean the house"
Brian:
"Sigh ok"
John brings in leaf blower and opens front door, blows all
the the dirt out.
John: "All clean lets go brew
some beer"
John's other events that make me laugh is how he forgot
about his potato in the microwave. I think he wanted to find out the explosion point
for the potato. To this day I think the show Mythbusters
was based off of John Ponte's antics.
Finally, helping John and Mike Nagle
remove some fence posts via his "little pickup". He tied a
chain around the posts and pulled. To this day I have never seen Mike Nagle
wife go from calm to enrage so quickly. I was thoroughly impressed albeit not
all parties that day were ;)
John we fell out of contact but in the short period of time
that we knew you, you left a life time of memories. We do miss you!
Brian/Deb
Submitted by jsbelfiore on Sun, 2006-09-10 09:37.
I was very fortunate to know John through the years - I spoke to him last in July as he was helping me remotely diagnose whether or not I had blown a head-gasket in my Saturn. "Do you see any Chocolate Milk???"
One of John's many gifts was his ability to find fun and humor in any situation as a way of connecting to the world, and he brought everyone he met some happiness as he did so. There's a lot I want to remember and preserve about John (including one of his favorite pictures), and its going to take time to write. Knowing John's sense of humor, I think he'd prefer any kind of memorial to be punctuated with the humor and smiles he brought to so many people. So this one's for you, John... Requiem For A Baghead - Jim/The Shadow
Submitted by hawk35 on Sun, 2006-09-10 12:45.
Wow reading these over brings back so many memories!!!!
I so remember Peanut butter pizza
Receiving a bag of black powder in the mail... with nothing but a note saying spaghetti sauce
Exploding Toilets
Heating your Apartment with the steam from the shower
Spock finding so many of the props for Rocky
So many memories. The world isn’t quite as bright without him in it.
Submitted by epanther on Sun, 2006-09-10 13:47.
Just because reading these has made me think of more, and more, and more....fixing the mini-buses for Community Homes, in February, in the dark and freezing cold. PWAH runs of all kinds. (I still have some of those milk crates, 20 years later. How messed up is that?) Evil Vulcan Cleanser. (Kids, don't try this at home!).
More recent memories - bathtub sized martini glasses. His unwavering hospitality.
I have no photos of him, though. Not one. If anyone can rectify this, send me email at alyxx at pantherhawk.net.
Also, Nick (Shadowspawn), Jeremy (Frodo) and I (Archer) will be meeting at a local pub tonight, 7:30 - 8:00ish PST, to hoist a few in his memory. If you are in Seattle, feel free to join us at the Kells. If you are elsewhere, lift a glass at the same time, please, if you can?
Thanks.
Baghead, you might be gone, but you will never be forgotten. You are the big brother/bad influence/best friend that we all needed, and I am only sad that we weren't there when you clearly needed us.
Does that thing really have a sewing machine engine?
Submitted by regnad on Sun, 2006-09-10 14:44.
Photos: I have a couple - just two, maybe three - will scan and post a link...
Peter
Submitted by sisele on Sun, 2006-09-10 15:46.
I had the extreme fortune of living next door to John the past several years. Since both he and I worked at home and tended to bury ourselves in our computer rooms, I probably never got to know him as well as most of you - my loss - and certainly never saw the John who dumped flour over your head or gave you a shower with a garden hose in the middle of the kitchen. He was a wonderful neighbor and a good friend, always helping me and my 2 kids with whatever we asked, and more.
He taught my son how to drive a stick shift - not in the legendary Fiat, but is his most recent mode of transportion, a Ford F150.
Thank you all for your commentaries, which have comforted me and I am sure will do the same for his family. I will make sure they see this, and will try to find some way to "include" those of you who cannot come to the memorial in that service.
Submitted by regnad on Sun, 2006-09-10 16:05.
Photos (That was quick):
Oddly, despite my reputation back then, NONE of these photos are shot by me. As far as I know the first time John ever went to Colorado was for the wedding of Peter Krotkov and Amanda Faut. The "InTux" shots are from that trip at that wedding. The garage shot was made by Janice when John showed up during one of my FreeBSD installations on "new" hardware. He made many helpful suggestions, but as I had no explosives I was unable to implement them. The lawnchair shot was shortly afterward when we decided if explosives were not available, we'd hit the next best thing -- the beer supply... I'm VERY lazy now that I've retired from Hell (also known as OIT) so this is a simple dirlist: http://www.people.umass.edu/peter/Spock/ [Editors note: the photo above is a link from Peter's collection. Thanks!] Peter pdefriesse{at}yahoo.com
Submitted by epanther on Sun, 2006-09-10 17:13.
Nick, Jeremy, and I are planning to fly out for the memorial. I've spoken to Jay (John's brother) once, briefly, and he said "midweek" - if anyone has more complete information, please let me know ASAP so I can grab plane tickets.
Thanks
Alyxx
Submitted by yoda_umass on Sun, 2006-09-10 17:49.
I woke John up - not hard to do when you sleep 22 hours per day - late one Wednesday and told him he was needed urgently to be best man at a wedding in Boulder - the following Friday. A quick call to Regnad to borrow plane fare and he showed up at our place wearing full Vulcan attire, including the ears, in plenty of time for the wedding. Not long after that adventure he moved to Boulder and occupied the living room for a good long time.
This morning I remembered these very Ponte-like adventures:
pete at nic.umass.edu
Submitted by epanther on Sun, 2006-09-10 17:55.
Update from Colorado -
The memorial is early Thursday morning.
Submitted by chipo on Sun, 2006-09-10 18:03.
I never knew John very well, but he was nothing if not memorable. When I first showed up on Confer, he was one of the ones who went out of his way to make this clueless dweeb feel welcome. I remember hearing about his struggle with depression, and finding that an interesting contrast with his outwardly happy-go-lucky nature.
I don't think I've really thought about him since leaving the Valley, but now, hearing these stories again 20 years later, I miss him. Farewell, Spock-wad. ... -Chip Olson (Castellan). ceo at thsi dot org http://ceo.livejournal.com
Submitted by jyklukas on Sun, 2006-09-10 18:12.
Damn, I almost forgot the gravy. Jim and I used to have a bunch of people over for dinner every year on Xmas day (The Dinner for Misfit Toys, naturally). One year, we ran out of gravy for the turkey. Not to worry, John was there. He raided every cupboard and every nook of the fridge for anything brown that would pour or melt that we could put in the gravy pan. When he added the bottle of Guinness, it was just right.....
- Johnna
jyklukas at virgil dot com http://www.jykboxes.com
Submitted by kitiara on Sun, 2006-09-10 20:47.
Neal said I have to post this one:
I don't remember what scheme John had come up with this particular day, but I said "John, you have lost all remaining marbles!!!"
John just grinned that grin at me and ran out the kitchen door. I followed, afraid of what he might get up to. He ran out to the garage, opened the driver's side door of the Starship, reached under the seat, and ... you guessed it - pulled out a bag of marbles. "See? said John, "I know exactly where my marbles are!"
Only John would have thought to have his marbles so conveniently at hand for just such an occassion.
Submitted by corum on Sun, 2006-09-10 21:01.
As noted above, John could always be counted on to help. He was also pretty good at getting other people to help him...
Which is how I wound up helping Doug "Jim the Lizard King" move back to southeastern Massachusetts one afternoon. John simply arrived and announced that we had a mission. I missed the part where he should have mentioned that he wasn't coming along.... I really didn't know Doug all that well before that two and a half hour (each way) trip. -Neal
Submitted by craighagan on Sun, 2006-09-10 21:02.
What a loss for all of us, and what a sad way for us to find each other
again. In many ways john/spock managed to provide a locus for
our community. That he manages to do so in both death and life says
much about the people that met him along the way.
I'm more than glad to merely remember him for his willingness
to take time out of his life to help us newbies find our
way around umass and elsewhere.
Submitted by argus_in_those_days on Sun, 2006-09-10 21:14.
I didn't know John that well, but I remember him as a funny, cool guy.
Twenty years after I first showed up at UMass, I now work there
(yikes!) and every time I find myself in the Blue Wall I think back
on the old coffee breaks and wonder what became of all those old
friends; this wasn't, alas, what I'd hoped to hear. This is very
sorry news indeed. )-:
-suzanne (at chem.umass.edu)
Submitted by hcoon on Sun, 2006-09-10 22:17.
John and I went to the same high school (Dover Sherborn Regional), though John was several years older than me, and I didn’t know him in hs, I did know his younger brother, Jay. As a newbie freshman at Mt. Holyoke I, naively, thought that high school was far away and no one would know me there. Imagine my surprise, shortly after discovering confer, having someone verify he was, in fact, from DS by providing the students’ nickname for the vice principal! That’s how I met John.
I didn’t know John as well as some of you, and wasn’t a part of the cyber crew for long, but I still have some milk crates John helped me acquire too! Those suckers are too useful to get rid of! I swear that for the longest time I didn’t really know (or want to believe) that taking milk crates was illegal. Yes, despite the notice printed right ON the milk crate!
And I remember that gravy! I was just thinking about that!
Someone said that John kept in touch with everyone and brought people together. This is definitely NOT one of my strengths. I can’t think of a better way to honor his memory (other than going on a PWAH run for milk crates) than to get back in touch with old friends, both in and out of this community. I have already started reaching out to old friends.
Thanks for everything, John. You are dear and will be missed.
Heather (Carrie)
hcoon at wideopenwest dot com
Submitted by glyford on Sun, 2006-09-10 22:23.
I remember going to the Northampton DPW for my license test to drive a bus, which was taken in one of the green and orange UMass school buses which the PVTA used to teach drivers. One of the other drivers was a guy I sometimes talked to waiting for chem lab in the morning. After we both passed the test, I started talking with him the next time I saw him in the hall waiting for the lab to open, thinking it cool that we now knew each other as drivers as well as engineering students.
"Hold on, I need some nicotine..." as he reached into a pocket for a Camel. He contemplated it for a moment, then ripped off the filter. Once he'd had a drag off it he visibly relaxed. "So, do you ever use 'confer'?"
"Yep"
He grins. "Hi, I'm Spock."
"Hi, I'm Axeman." and we laughed like crazy at the weird synchronicity of it all.
From then on every time I saw his typed out "Flick...Puff...Ahhhh" I always stopped to wonder if he'd stopped to tear off the filter first.
--Glenn
Submitted by jsbelfiore on Mon, 2006-09-11 00:43.
Here's a picture I took of John while we were still at UMass together. I remember him telling me that of all the places he'd worked on campus, he never felt more comfortable and content than when he would spend time at the stables taking care of the horses. He was happiest when he got the rare opportunity to ride, and I happened to come across him during a winter day, when he had 'borrowed' a moment with the mounted division of the Boston Police who were getting ready for a patrol at the Quabbin.
- Jim/The Shadow (jsb at virgil dot com)
Submitted by timboudreau on Mon, 2006-09-11 01:03.
One story John himself told me about was installing a telephone in the oven in his apartment in Sunderland...so he could have a "hot line". Maybe someone reading this can fill in the details. Something also about mounting the couch half-way up the wall...
I'm overjoyed at the outpouring of stories and thoughts here. Many of us haven't seen each other for nearly twenty years. I got together with Nick, Alyxx and Jeremy tonight. It's good to meet again. Really good.
I will be attending the memorial service in Colorado. If anyone needs help with anything in regard to it, just ask.
Tim aka Kablosna Phantax
tboudreau at sun dot com
Submitted by naturallog on Mon, 2006-09-11 06:30.
As the others I have many stories about John....
I *still* have some of the milk crates he pwahed.
Last week I heard "Shout" by Tears for Fears.. that song always reminds me of the times John was driving for PVTA . He would crank that song and it seemed the whole bus would get into it.
I havent seen John or any of you in over a decade. This sad news really shook me. John was a good man, always ready to help, and always making life interesting.
Ellen/Natural Log
natural_log at verizon dot net
Submitted by ratrig on Mon, 2006-09-11 06:41.
Very sad news indeed. John was a good friend, as well as source of mischeif and inspiration. He was the only person I have ever known who could catch a steel pot on fire whilest trying to boil water. John appeared in my life at a time when a dear friend from the old "CONFER" days had passed away. "CONFER" UMASS' early chat application. The funny part was, that most of the people using the old InfoTON 100 terminals in either the library or Grad Center were sitting within eyesite while using the system :-) A short story: John's FIAT was deader than a doornail at his place in Conway. I came over to assist in a "carbuerator"ectomy. After a couple of hours of painstaking diagnosis., John decides place the air-filter back on the top of the carb and procedes to douse the paper element with about about a pint of ether. He then has me turn the igniton and "pow" you could have heard the backfire and seen the flame from South Deerfield. After a couple of beers and some thought and possibly some spray-paint, it turns out he had a cracked distributor cap instead. Anyhow, John could always provide a smile when you were down, and thought not of his own wants. He will be missed. Matt Deloia
(Hodge Podge)
Submitted by gemi9 on Mon, 2006-09-11 08:14.
Wow.
Now that I see your names, I have really begun to miss you guys.
I wonder if this isnt a good time to think about planning some kind of reunion? Maybe in a year or 2 years time we would all have the money to travel to meet up...maybe John would have been amused by that.
just an idea.....
Submitted by jbalch66 on Mon, 2006-09-11 08:56.
So many things have been posted already, I have little to add.
John taught me that everything could be fixed with duct tape, that even a bath tub could be set on fire, that umbrellas are meant to hold confetti, and that every thing (EVERY THING) can be made funny if you try - there is humor in every situation.
I met John through Confer in 1985. He was one of my dearest friends for the next 21 years and will be with me always. He was the truest kind of friend.
Every time I flew through Denver, John was there to greet me at the airport, even if only for minutes. Every time I received a cigar in the mail I knew that John had gotten a promotion or a new/better job. John threatened me with Captain Underpants gifts for my kids. I couldn't wait.
I really love John. He will be sorely missed. But he would love the gift he gave us all. In his death, he brought us back together.
Julie (Hansen) Balch - EVITA
Submitted by gwendal on Mon, 2006-09-11 11:57.
I'd love to hear more about what John was doing after college. I lost touch with him around 1985, but he has the distinction of being the last guy I dated before I started dating the guy I married (Hawkmoon.) I had a rule that I wouldn't date guys who smoked but I broke it for Spock. :-)
Wendy
Dally at Myself Dot Com
Submitted by remembercampbell on Mon, 2006-09-11 13:30.
Mandy here (yes, Peter K's first wife). I won't be making the memorial - I went back to grad school and am currently in medical school (yes, to be a real doctor). Gross anatomy doesn't stop for anything. I think John would understand.
John came to my second wedding as well. After the ceremony, my husband and I went to get into the limosine to ride to the reception - and the limo was dead. In true Ponte fashion (yes, we have pictures), John drove his car onto the old historic church lawn and jump-started the limosine. While he was in a suit. No shit.
A bright burning flame in a world of darkness has been extinguished when John left this earth. He was a beacon of kindness, laughter, humility, and friendship. Let me know if there is a memorial fund in his name. I'll burn a pot of spaghetti sauce in his honor this weekend.
-Mandy (Nyssa/Pearls)
Submitted by remembercampbell on Mon, 2006-09-11 13:33.
One other thing ----
I distinctly remember riding the bus routes when John was driving with "classical gas" and "long cool woman in a black dress" playing full blast. I still think of him when I hear those two songs.
Submitted by xhaosdaemon on Mon, 2006-09-11 13:45.
Damn....by all the gods above this truly sucks beyond suckage. John was a great friend, bent over backwards to do anything to cheer you up. I will always remember how he smoked multiple cigs when he was upset. I will also always remember the 1st Rocky Horror Picture Show liveshow cast party at his apartment....how many people can one fit in a shower indeed. Having been working in the human services field with psychotropic medications for 19 years I have an inkling of what he was going through and the things those medications do to you. However he was always a trooper, I never heard him complain about it. John was one of many who reached out to a young, clueless (yeah I admit it), geeky kid who never fit in anywhere and brought him into an eclectic, dynamic, and sometimes manic crowd of people all of whom changed my life. I wish I had the money to come to Colorado for the memorial service, would love to see all of you again and pay my deepest respects to John. I hadn't seen him in a LONG time, and I wish that I had.....I think he would have been surprised, as I look NOTHING like what I did at UMass, just ask Neal/Corum. John was a great friend, a great person, and a truly bright spirit. I never heard anyone say a bad word about him. I will miss you Spock, and hope to meet you again someday.....until then, Live Long In The Light And Prosper........and at the next metal show I am at I will do some headbanging for ya, I think you'd be amused at that. :-)
Jan Novak (aka Elric/Logan)
jmnovak at hotmail dot com
Submitted by sandealer on Mon, 2006-09-11 16:11.
This is one of the last emails that John had sent me. (Madeline is my 10 year old daughter)
From: ponte [at] indra.com
Subject: The Plan! Date: June 20, 2006 9:41:23 AM PDT To: sam.woolsey [at] gmail.com Ok! Here's the plan: 1. Invite Madeline to come visit in Los Angeles. 2. Take her shopping on Rodeo Drive. 3. Go to an upscale clothing store. (The kind that has an attendant for the fitting room. 4. Have Madeline pick out an item, and go to the fitting room. 5. Wait 3-4 minutes. 6. Have Madeline yell, "Hey Dad! I'm in trouble! There's no toilet paper in here!" 7. Photograph the expression on the attendant's face and send it to me.
Submitted by sandealer on Mon, 2006-09-11 16:19.
Just a few of the things I learned/experienced with my friend John.
• He taught me how to return something borrowed in better shape than when I received it.
• He taught me how to save money and organize my finances. • He taught my 7 year old daughter how to flick peas properly at the dinner table. • He taught me that the proper instructional video for ANY plumbing project is “A Plumbing We Will Go†by The Three Stooges. • He taught me how to fix a corn stove. • He opened me up to the wonderful world of Unix. • He taught me how to cook healthy food. • He taught me that fixing a toilet can only be done properly after at least 3 pints of beer. • He taught me how to plant a garden. • He taught me that you can figure out just about anything with enough time and persistence. • He taught me that whoopi cushion’s really do have a place in the workplace. • He taught me how to make Kitty Litter Cake. • He taught me how to vacuum the house with a leaf blower. • He showed me how many Qualcomm sys admin’s would fit into a VW Bug. • He showed me some of the most beautiful hiking spots on the Front Range. • He showed me how to make a “Perfect Martiniâ€. • He taught me (through his own actions) how rewarding it is to lend a helping hand, no matter the size of the task. • He once bought me an honorary Sys Admin “propeller†hat. • He introduced my child to the wonderful teachings (which only brought dismay to the grandparents) of Captain Underpants. And he was Oh-So-Pleased to learn that “Squishy’s†ACTUALLY work. (ref: Captain Underpants) • He taught me not to worry too much when every one of my conversations with him started out with phrases like “We need to leave the Stateâ€, “We’re gonna be in so much troubleâ€, “Do you have backup funds for bail money?â€. • He taught me how to turn a used toilet into someone’s office chair... TWICE!. • He taught me and my daughter how to launch Krispy Kreme’s with the water balloon launcher. • He taught me how NOT to get banned from entering my friends house with power tools. • He taught me how to catch some air by launching an F250 longbed over speed humps at 65mph. Most importantly, he taught me how to teach myself and how important it is to pass that knowledge on to the next generation. I’m really going to miss him. After reading all these stories, I’m even more validated in my thoughts that John’s spirit will live in this world for many a year to come. He touched the lives of so many people and for him touching mine, I’m eternally grateful. When I get back to LA, I’m eating at Paco’s Taco’s when I land. And for those coming to CO, if you have time, there is a Paco’s Taco’s in Idaho Springs (about 45min west of Denver on I-70) (John Frequently answered the phone as Paco himself.)
Submitted by andymontana on Mon, 2006-09-11 16:24.
Thank you John for teaching me that golf is a lot more fun when played with a can of spam - rather than a golf ball.
Submitted by afnaste on Mon, 2006-09-11 16:47.
Unfortunately I didn't know John well at UMass, but I do remember when he paid Graham Mitchell (Loki / Locarai) and I a visit in our apartment in Dedham MA in 1992. He taught us how to make beer battered seafood, then said his doctor had declared him disabled due to his depression, next he spoke of skinnydipping in the ocean with some girl he had just met, and ended with him ordering Graham to repeatedly punch him in the stomach as hard as he could, which Graham did. John didn't even flinch, he had a stomach of steel then.
Andy Steinberg / Professor Nutto
andy at research dot umass dot edu South Hadley MA
Submitted by kitiara on Mon, 2006-09-11 20:22.
Neal & I would like to suggest a Coffee Break at the Blue Wall, the Sunday of Columbus Day weekend. It seems somehow fitting, as so many of us have memories of him there...
Submitted by glhines on Mon, 2006-09-11 21:12.
I met John a couple of years back while he was working at a startup company. I was working at a sister company and we had the opportunity to work together on a few small projects. The work went quickly but we spent hours just talking.
We talked about ourselves, of course, but John also regaled me with tales of his pranks over the years (many of which have already been written about here). He was proud of them, and well he should be, given how elaborate some of them were.
We also talked about his time at Qualcomm and Sun and how much he enjoyed the jobs and people.
Unfortunately, there were problems at the startup where John was working and John left. I didn't see him again. For as short of a time as I knew him, I got to know him pretty well--or so I thought. I wish I had gotten to know him even better. He never mentioned the depression, for example. He was always upbeat and positive regardless of the circumstances surrounding his job.
I didn't know him long and he made a great impression on me. I can only imagine how much he meant to those of you he knew for years.
Submitted by grundig on Mon, 2006-09-11 21:46.
What does THIS BUTTON do?!?!?!
I am deeply saddened by the loss of John, while we had drifted apart and lost touch he touch me perhaps more profoundly than almost anyone I have known. To this day I have not met anyone who is more unconditionally accepting and giving. John as a few other people have noted would do anything for anyone at anytime, this was true for a total stranger and even truer for those of us lucky enough to call him a friend.
He taught me many of the most important lessons of my life, things that I use to this day. The first is that Anything is possible, the second is that life is FUN. So ever since graduating (which often seemed impossible) I have been able to accomplish many impossible things and still have fun. I also learned how to fix anything with WD-40, Duct Tape, Hammer, Screw driver, and a Pipe wrench. I've since added a cordless drill but I only use that sparingly.
Looking around my life I see traces of John around my life even though its been over 10 years since we last talked, I still cook with mixing bowls and a food processor he gave me, I read occasionally with a lamp that used to be his. I still have a bunch of milk crates in my attic filled with stuff from UMASS that he helped me acquire.
Today - 9/11 and living in NY near the city 5 years after that tragic day, it was already a day filled with reflection, introspection, and hope tinged with sadness. That sadness was deepened when I got a call out of the blue from Daphne (Jen) and I learned about John's Tragic Death. That deep sadness is also tinged with joy at the memories of his life, those we knew and the good times we shared. Reading this blog has taken me back, helped me have a good cry and reconnect with John's memory.
Thanks to Tim for Starting this, Steve and Jay for reaching out to so many, To Jen for Tracking me down, for everyone for sharing their memories and most importantly for John for sharing his life so fully with so many of us.
I have only a few regrets, but one of them is letting myself loose touch with John. While John's Death leaves a deep hole in my heart and the world. Please join me helping to fill it with a little love. Be nice a stranger at least once every day. Give your shirt off your back to help someone if for no other reason than because you can. LIVE Life.. Have FUN.. Take Chances.. and most importantly find out what that Button Does. -- Live Long and Prosper
Finally my condolences his family. We shared paths for only a few years but he was like a brother, a dear friend, and will be missed.
Andy Seward aka Grundig
sewarda at gmail dot com
Submitted by grundig on Mon, 2006-09-11 21:48.
btw.. as much as I would like I can't make it out to CO but am very interested in a Gathering....
Andy
Submitted by fredjean on Mon, 2006-09-11 22:41.
I first met John when he interviewed for a position in my team at Sun. He showed up wearing jeans cutoffs and an old rugby shirt. I was a little shocked and surprised when I first saw him. No way would I recommend hiring someone that would dress like that for an interview!
10 minutes into the interview, I was sold. We had to get him in!
John referred to his F150 truck as "the little pickup." He helped me moved with it and taught me how to drive a stick in his neighborhood.
Joel Duval, a sysadmin at Sun (last I know...) was the actual recipient of the office "toilet" chair. It did stay at his cubicle for a while. Who knows where it is now though...
John would be a perpetual prankster. He always threatened to give his friends kids "sugar coated sugar bombs". You did have to look for whoopie cushions before sitting down. He even convinced me to help him unplug the christmas lights at the corner of 120th avenue and Interlocken Blvd (I think...) after a late evening of troubleshooting internal Sun systems.
Other things that I learned from John:
fred at fredjean dot net
Submitted by jsbelfiore on Mon, 2006-09-11 22:43.
I found this card while I was looking through some old pictures I hadn't looked at in years. I learned a lot at the five colleges, but International Auto was another school tucked away where John held his own classes. It was the garage where he traded his skills for a set of tools and a place to park the Starship Dodge.
I used to drive Honda Accords in college which were notoriously expensive to maintain. Up until I met John, I had never worked on a car. One time I had serious rear-brake problems and the estimate I got from Northampton Honda was way beyond what I could stomach on a student budget. John stepped in and told me that I was going to take just a little bit of the money from the estimate, and from then on, always buy the Chilton and Haynes books for any car I ever owned. The Haynes book in particular was useful because it was written from the perspective of a total tear-down and rebuild. The rest of the cash would be split between parts, and beer.
With the Haynes guide, John taught me how to take apart the rear drum brakes, resurface the drums, attach new pads, bleed and reset the master cylinder, clean, unstick and resurrect the butterfly auto-adjusters, re-tension the emergency brake cables, and most important of all, show me from the Haynes book that there was supposed to be a 50-cent rubber plug in the back of each drum that kept excess moisture and road grime from getting into the drum and prematurely corroding the whole works. That plug was missing on both sides when we worked on my brakes that Saturday afternoon. He made me buy a bag of those 50-cent plugs and told me to check the rear side of the drums every time I took the car back to a Honda dealer for any kind of service. Sure enough, the next time I did (for something completely unrelated to brakes), the plugs were gone when I got the car back - so I replaced them. When I took the car to a different Honda dealer for other non-brake service, the plugs would disappear again, so I'd replace them again.
John spent 8 hours with me that day, patiently teaching me how to work with tools and not be afraid to tackle automotive tasks if I had the right guidebooks and a decent garage. We got the brakes fixed, and I was prouder of that accomplishment than some of the school tasks for that year. Even now, 20 years later, when cars are way more complicated and require certification and special computers to handle the many diagnostic systems, I always keep copies of the Chilton and Haynes books at the ready to make sure I can have a more informed conversation with shop mechanics.
Thanks again, John.
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I met John in 1986 when I was a freshman at UMass. We were both part of a community of extremely eccentric individuals that used the Cyber mainframe there. It was a community bound together by primitive local newsgroups called "notesfiles" and a proto-irc called "Confer". And by the fact that the terminal room closed for cleaning on Thursday nights, so everyone would gather in the campus coffee shop for "coffee break" - and to scare the mundanes with whatever bizarre behavior we could muster, including showing up in costume, more than two people making out together, musical interludes and anything else anyone could dream of that could make people think we were all crazy. It was easy - we all were.
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always your little sister, Mara