Comments on: THOMAS SULLIVAN: FLAMINGO FRANK

By: Thomas Sullivan: THE MYSTIQUE & THE MISTAKE AT CROSSLAKE or GLENN FREY & SULLY ON CREATIVITY Part 2 | Storytellersunplugged

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:08:31 +0000

[...] Frank was larger than life — and he was — then he is certainly larger than death: [http://www.storytellersunplugged.com/thomas-sullivan-flamingo-frank-2 ]. People are still reading that column, still responding. If you would like to see more about [...]

By: Sheri Wydra

Sheri Wydra — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:47:54 +0000

Sully… i am with out words, but utmost, sincerest appreciation.

By: Thomas Sullivan

Thomas Sullivan — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 03:45:07 +0000

I’m so glad that you took the time to know Flamingo Frank the way you did, Bill. You may have tried scrupulously to keep your comments focused away from yourself, but that effort alone says a lot about you, and I can assure you Frank Wydra would have delighted in your friendship. You validate who he was and what he did. Now and then there is a rare person who makes life an adventure for everyone around them. Even rarer is the one who adds wisdom, poetry and meaning to the mix. If you find one of those, hang onto them. And if they beat you to the next room, hang on to what they left behind. Even as a memory and a life’s lesson, it’s the difference between black-and-white and technicolor. Thanks for recognizing that, Bill. Now turn that camera onto yourself. It’s okay. Flamingo Frank would love the honest affirmation in that.

– Sully

By: Bill Lindblad

Bill Lindblad — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 02:14:15 +0000

I haven’t written a response before this, because every time I tried it came out… like this one is coming out… about me. My response, my view, my sadness.

I hate that. It’s not about me, it’s about Frank, and what he gave to everyone just by living his life. I discovered him through his SU essays, and I learned a bit about him through his web site. There are probably hundreds of others who knew him equally casually, most through his mystery stories and some via SU. We don’t have the experiences that you do, but we have enough to know our lives are diminished by his loss.

I wish he’d produced more writing. I wish I’d met him at a Bouchercon or some book event. I wish I’d sent some e-mail his way to let him know how much I liked his columns, and perhaps had the opportunity to engage in at least a small correspondence with this man.

By writing this column, you’ve given all of us a little more of the man than we had, a little bit extra to consider when our memories wander back in his direction.

I can’t thank you enough.

By: Thomas Sullivan

Thomas Sullivan — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 19:00:34 +0000

Just noticed a typo in your e-mail post, Amalgam — Flaming Frank — and you know Flamingo would’ve loved that. I can hear him chuckling. But your sentiments couldn’t run truer. Love is the word when it comes to Frank…

– Sully

By: Thomas Sullivan

Thomas Sullivan — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:55:26 +0000

Robert C. Jones encountered the site difficulties we are having at Storytellers, and wants to post this:

Shakespeare could not have drafted a more beautiful and apt eulogy. Thank you for expressing so well what I’m sure all who knew him felt.

Regarding the feeling of having known him for a lifetime, if I think of my past as a continuum, time is not a segmenting factor; and Flaming Frank ever so smoothly diffuses through all of it And he always will.

Men usually feel a little uneasy about expressing love for another man, but that pause never occurs when thinking of Frank.

Amalgam

By: Thomas Sullivan

Thomas Sullivan — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 01:36:22 +0000

Yeah, Brian, time is pretty unforgiving. I’m just glad Flamingo Frank and I finally met and had as many great years as we did. Wish I’d known him all my life, though in a way I did. Funny how you learn to recognize what’s important in people and feel that instant connection, you and me inclusive. Like Frank, I don’t intend to waste a moment. Thanks, amigo.

– Sully

By: Brian Hodge

Brian Hodge — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 23:33:32 +0000

I don’t know which of you was luckier to have had the other in his life. I just know I’m grateful to have crossed both your paths here. And wish you’d been able to forestall this column for another 5 or 10 years.

By: Thomas Sullivan

Thomas Sullivan — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 06:33:32 +0000

Thanks Janet and Mark. Flamingo Frank lived going forward and never wasted a moment of life, and so that’s the prescription.

As you may know, this site has been having problems all day and so I’ve delayed posting responses because one of the problems is that the column is up twice and I’m not sure which one is going to end up with the posts. Here’s what I put up on the other copy of the column:

Just testing to see if this will post, since we’re having massive problems with the site today. One of the site administrators cannot even login, so it’s a mixed bag of accessibility. I spent most the night trying to access controls, but the gurus will have to figure this one out. And they will. If you intended to post here, and are not able to get on, please don’t give up. We love your voice!

– Sully

By: Mark Lancaster

Mark Lancaster — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 05:23:09 +0000

I’m so sorry for your loss, Sully. I didn’t know Frank, but your eulogy makes me wish I had. It’s so very hard to say goodbye when you know it’s the very last time, and the older we get, the more we find ourselves in these sad situations. I am thankful, though, that you had the chance to know him, and to love him and call him your brother. I know he will live on, in the hearts of those he touched. My condolences to all whose lives are diminished by his absence.
– Mark