Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Forums

It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of two members from the WWEnd Community: Rich "Rico" Simpkins (icowrich) and Charles Dee Mitchell (CharlesDee).

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Rich was an original founder of WWEnd with me over 20 years ago. What began as a little website to satisfy our desire to track and read all the Hugo Award books quickly blossomed into a much bigger endeavor that we decided needed to be shared with the world. He was instrumental in coming up with ideas and solving problems that helped us build the site into the extensive resource that it is today. 

Rich was one of the smartest people I've ever known. He had an encyclopedic understanding of his favorite topics -- religion, politics, history, philosophy -- and you would be hard pressed to catch him out on any other topic you care to name. He had a voracious hunger for knowledge and was a truly deep thinker. He could help even those of us with the meanest understanding connect the dots. He was the person you went to with the hard questions when you knew the answers could change your life. Infinitely patient and kind, he was a natural born teacher, loving family man, and a fierce friend who cared deeply about the people in his life.

Rich passed suddenly, last week, from a heart attack at the age of 58. Any age would have been "too soon" for a man like Rich, but all who knew him feel particularly cheated right now, especially his students and the young people in his life who no doubt looked forward to many more years of his mentorship. He was one of my best friends for the last 42 years and I miss him dearly.

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Dee was the first friend I ever made online. He stumbled upon WWEnd in 2011 and came to my attention when he started dropping reviews left and right -- he posted more than 400 over the years. Dee became friends with Rich and Chis too and even joined us on a road trip to World Con in San Antonio. He was a WWEnd supporter and contributor and, as an Uber User, he added many new books to the site, most of them of the horror and weird type. He also hosted a handful of reading challenges every year.

When I discovered he was a local here in Dallas I suggested we meet up at Half Price Books for a browse and a coffee -- not knowing that he was the original book buyer for the whole chain of stores! We hit it off immediately. He was a tremendous book nerd — no topic was out of bounds for him — and a huge movie fan — especially horror films. When we got together it was always great conversation over great food. In his typically humble way he did not tell me that he was a big damn deal in the Dallas art scene. Dee had many interests and moved comfortably in many different circles. In all of them he was generous and kind, open and genuine.

Dee passed away, last week, from complications related to Parkinson’s. His last few years were not what anyone who loved him would have wanted. He suffered much pain and was housebound requiring 'round the clock caretakers. Dee bore it all with stoicism and grace and would tell you other people had it worse. In talking about one of his art shows he quoted P. T. Barnum saying “Always leave them wanting more.” Well, Dee has left us and he has left us wanting more.

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Rich and Dee touched many lives and will not soon be forgotten. To lose them both, only days apart, has been devastating but my hope is that they will find each other in Heaven and pick up on the last conversation they had. This site and this world are all the poorer for loosing two such great men. I love you both.