Remembering Mac writer Rodney O. Lain

46 Comments

“It was two-years ago this week that the Mac world lost a prolific Macintosh advocate, and I lost a friend. Rodney Lain, popular writer for Mac sites AppleLinks, The Mac Observer, MacAddict, and our own MyMac.com, died on June 16th, 2002,” Tim Robertson writes for MyMac.com.

“A controversial writer from the start, Rodney loved nothing more than to stir the hornets

46 Comments

  3. Use of a racial epithet is an example of the greatness of this writer? I bleed six colors as much as the next mac-o-phile, but the state of the mac community is not a serious enough topic to warrant it.

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  5. We exchanged some emails at one time. I only heard that he died one year after the fact — to great shock. Miss you Rodney. You wrote from the heart, and touched mine a few times. Be seein’ you soon, bro’.

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  6. I was an online editor for over seven years and I was threatened with being fired multiple times for publishing Rodney’s articles.

    Each and every time I demanded that the the incensed person tell me if they had actually read the article, or if they were reacting to a vitriolic reader email or having done nothing more than scan the provocative headline.

    Not once had any of these people actually read the article. After I insisted that they do so, every single one of them changed their tune.

    Rodney was a gift to us all and his passing was a terrible loss to many.

    And while it may very well be a slow news day, has the reader who posted that comment actually read Rodney’s work? You are welcome to have a differing opinion, but please say that you’ve actually read his columns before forming said opinon.

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  9. My point is: If I were a writer, I would hate to be remembered by the fact that I used a racial epithet, even if I did so effectively. You have to admit that when presented out of context, it makes you cringe somewhat. Anyway, if pissing people off and using bad words is noteworthy, then I should be a star. ; )

    If I knew where to get the article, I would read it. However, I think you can understand why I would be skeptical that this particular epithet could be a useful tool in a Mac article. I remain skeptical.

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  10. If you didn’t read Rodney regularly in the context of the time in which he wrote you probably couldn’t understand it. No reflection on you, it is just that you really had to be there to appreciate it.

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  11. I met him at MicroCenter a year or so before his death. I had read some of his stuff, and I had read that he put his time where his mouthpiece was and worked part-time in our local Mac scene to spread the “good news” of Apple, but I was still astonished to see him. I said, “hey, are you the iBrotha?” and he smiled and said, “yeah.” I don’t recall anything more because I was too star-struck. He had quite a presence.

    Having struggled with depression most of my life, I know what a terrible thing it is and what wonderful talent like Rodney is lost every year to it.

    You can do nothing greater to honor Rodney O. Lain than to work to reduce the stimga of mental health problems which keep people from seeking or getting the help they need to remain with us.

    http://www.save.org/

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  13. You’re probably right. Rodney Lain may have been a skilled and worthwhile writer… I don’t know. My guess is that use of the *N* word was the kind of “look-at-me” attention-whoring that is common in the media. That doesn’t necessarily make him less worthwhile overall, but it doesn’t highlight his talents either. If I write “I love f**king your mother up the a**”, it gets your attention, but it doesn’t make me a great writer… and, it’s not appropriate.

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  14. [Looking forward to the 3rd anniversary of his passing]

    Why?

    [……..slow “news” day?]

    Why is 10 days of Reagan news okay for you, yet a mere mention of a deceased Mac advocate move you to be insulting?

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  18. Only a self consumed idiot would think I approved of the 10 long days of Reagan mourning, since I have never said so and in fact didn’t, and hardly watch TV anyway, so there. Typical of the intellectually challenged here, macdaddy makes assumptions that fit his point of view, instead of processing info that might improve himself. Finding himself complete and without fault, he of course can hold forth with opinions that do not matter, facts that do not jibe, and conclusions without preamble. Congrats.

    Having now researched Lain, I find that he was capable of good syntax, made amazing and specious, imo, comparisons between mac using being black, and amazing and amusing comparisons between mac ownership and religion. And he was bipolar, explaining some of his quirkiness and actually raising him in my view. That particular disease is a sonuvabitch.

    And, if 2 years after Thurrott kicks the bucket, any mention is made of his passing, I will find it as absurd as I find this “news”. Unless of course Thurrott is actually a mentally ill profane african american, in which case mentioning the anniversary of his death would be manditory.

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  20. Bottom line, Rodney Lain was a valued member of the Mac community. After reading the article, I still disagree with the usage and context of the article, but it’s not important.

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  21. [self consumed idiot,]

    Looking forward to the 3rd anniversary of his passing

    [Typical of the intellectually challenged here]

    If it’s not Joe’s OPINION, then it’s wrong.

    [makes assumptions that fit his point of view, instead of processing info that might improve himself.]

    …slow “news” day?

    Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah.

    Certainly a winning style of debate (and discourse).

    Someone makes a mistake, then ‘someone’ attacks anyone ‘foolish/brave/sanctimonious/idiotic’ enough to challenge them.

    Oh, and returning the greeting. Fuh Q!

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  22. I get bored reading the articles this man wrote – although it’s easy to see he enjoyed using his words. Which makes it all the more puzzling why he found lots of words to waste on something as trivial as computers at the same time as being lost for them when he really needed not to be – ie, when he was consumed with wretchedness about himself.

    When all the words here are said and done, there is little point in ‘privileging’ a man who committed the ultimate act of cowardice – destroying his own life.

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  23. My son shot himself seven weeks ago. I really don’t think suicide is an act of cowardice, I think it takes a lot of nerve to end things along with a lot of despair, and maybe some other things. But cowardice, never. If you don’t believe in an afterlife then death is really the end and you aren’t a coward, can’t be a coward, if you end it. If you do believe in an afterlife, then you are in fear for what might be store for you and a coward would never take that chance.

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  24. I wish I would of met him at Macworld, but we never crossed paths. I mean back in the day there were only a handful of brothas there anyway, but it never happened. I totally related to his perspective and miss his articles dearly. R.I.P. Rodney

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  25. Read some more of his stuff and stuff about him, he was a really cool guy. Straddled the fence much like myself.

    I was wrong to underestimate his importance, apologies to everyone, even macbuddy, since he admitted I won.

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