Hello family, friends and fans of Michael F. Flynn.
It is with sorrow and regret that I inform you that my father passed away yesterday, Sept 30, 2023.
He was sleeping peacefully in the home that he loved. His father built the home 70 years ago and my dad had an outsized attachment to it. Many happy memories of his childhood and of his parents, and his brothers, especially Dennis, were contained herein.
If you met or corresponded or conversed with Dad then you know that he was interested in a great many things in the world. If he asked you a question about something, it was because he really wanted to know, he wasn't just being polite. He liked to take the "devil's advocate" position in debates and arguments, especially political ones, much to the annoyance of my mother and probably many others. Dad was looking for a robust exercise in intellectual and rhetorical swordplay; he just didn't always see that sometimes people just want to have a conversation without being en garde.
He had the ultimate dad sense of humor, and had an endless supply of terrible jokes, puns, and groaners, even when he was in the hospital in July. In "real life," he was a very easy going person. I could probably count on one hand the number of times I have heard my dad yell or curse.
At his death, he had a lot of tabs open on his browser, on a variety topics. He always sought to learn about different things. Some of it was for his writing, some for the extensive family research he has always done, and some of it was just because he wanted to learn more about the universe, the planet we live on, and the people around him.
So if you take anything away from your time reading his works, his blog, interacting with him on social media or elsewhere, forget the politics and social commentary and the devil's advocacy, but take away that he was someone who just wanted to learn and engage with others, and keep that piece with you in your lives.
- His Daughter.
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.
ReplyDeleteYour dad was one of handful of people I ‘met’ online over the last couple decades that truly enriched my life. I regularly quoted and linked to this blog, and was blushingly flattered whenever he would notice.
The crowning achievement of my humble efforts was when your dad put me on his blog roll. What a fine, erudite, and kind man!
My deepest condolences, I always enjoyed reading his blog.
ReplyDeleteMy deepest condolences (desde Chile)
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry
ReplyDeleteI too enjoyed reading his blog, and learning from his many interests,. My condolences. Your family will be in my prayers - I know he will be greatly missed.
ReplyDeleteSincere condolences on your loss. He will be missed. Prayers for him and you.
ReplyDeleteI am very sorry to hear it, and for your loss. I never had the honour of meeting your father in person, but I knew and liked him online and learned many things from him.
ReplyDeleteMay God rest his soul and number him among the saints.
I’m sorry for your loss and will be praying for your father. I greatly enjoyed his blog and books.
ReplyDeleteA genuine question: What happens to blogs and their content once their owner dies or otherwise leaves it unused? It'd be a real shame to lose such wonderful and insightful work as the O'Floinn's if these things disappear into the ether.
ReplyDeleteEternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.
ReplyDeleteMy deepest condolences.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry for your loss. Requiescat in pace +
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry to hear this. Your father was such a talented writer. His series, The Great Ptolemaic Smackdown was phenomenal history I've shared with as many people as I can. God bless him.
ReplyDeleteI only met him a handful of times but I wish it had been more. The world is poorer for his leaving it.
ReplyDeleteSincerest condolences for your loss.
ReplyDeleteI've enjoyed all his writing, and this blog, but I especially love the Spiral Arm series. Those are my favorite books, and I think I've re-read them four, maybe five times now. Most recently was two years ago, when my wife and I were expecting our second child. We had a first name picked out, but were struggling to choose a middle one. If I recall correctly, she was also mid-way through the January Dancer at the time. So we chose Flynn as my son's middle name. He just turned two three days ago.
He will be missed. I've really loved reading his books. I wish I'd had a chance to meet him. My faith tells me he's safe and happy now with our Savior, and I hope one day to meet him there. Here in this life, though, I'm grateful I can share his books with my own children.
ReplyDeleteI hope it's possible to preserve the blog somehow. He's left a lot of wisdom here for us.
He gave a talk on science, technology and the Church. It made me revise what I thought I knew about the Church, too many years before I became a believer. I second the preservation of his blog. I learned so much from it. May he and all the faithful departed by the mercy of God rest in peace.
ReplyDeleteI am truly sorry for your loss. Be assured of my prayers; I shall add him to my regular remembrance of the dead. May today he look upon the face of his Redeemer, and live.
ReplyDeleteI truly enjoyed his stories and books. The world is a little smaller without him.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear this news. Though I never met him in person, I always enjoyed his writing both in his novels and in his work as perhaps the greatest blog commenter the Internet has ever known. May the angels lead him to paradise, and may his family and friends be consoled. God bless!
ReplyDeleteMay God bless him and grant him peace.
ReplyDeleteSo he died the day after Michaelmas? No doubt led home by his patron saint. "In Paradisum deducant te angeli..."
ReplyDeleteMy sincere condolences and prayers for Mike. I never met him in person, but learned a lot reading his blog and was quite impressed with his ability to get to the heart of a matter without minutia throwing off his fine reasoning. His fine books were, likewise, quite erudite and I have a few he inscribed and sold to benefit a church in his beloved Pennsylvania. I will pray he, Dennis, and the incomparable Marge all be welcomed in Our Lord's mansion.
ReplyDeleteHe was a big fan and active supporter of my blog The Renaissance Mathematicus and we had several stimulating exchanges over the years. An enlightened, critical and challenging voice who enriched the Internet with his presence
ReplyDeleteMay he rest in our Lord's peace! I will pray for his repose and for the comfort of your family.
ReplyDeleteI read Firestar when I was in middle school and it stuck with me even twenty-something years later. I loved his writings here, and sent them to many friends over the years. My condolences for your loss, and my prayers for your father's soul, and for your family as you mourn his passing.
ReplyDeleteTo Mike's Daughter
ReplyDeleteYou write very well yourself.
God have mercy. I owe a great deal to your father's writings. I'll pray for his soul.
ReplyDeleteDrat! I just discovered him, thanks to a reposting by John C. Wright, and he ups and dies. Condolences to you. Your own writing style does your father proud.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry for your loss.
ReplyDeleteHe was really inspirational to me. I still remember randomly picking up Rogue Star while working at the library in my early teens. It got me hooked on reading and sf. Only after I read the book did I realize it was the middle book of a series. I read the other books quickly.
A few years later, while in DC and hanging out with a girl I had met, we were in a bookstore when I recognized his name. I didn't realize he had a new book, The Wreck of the River of Stars.
Years later I saw he was getting ready to release The January Dancer and the start of a new series, it was the first book series I anticipated more than the next season of a TV show.
His books inspired me. Many quotes that I now want to go back and get the exact text of. "Swords don't run of of ammunition", "take something we can maybe, sortof, to today, then add a few thousand years of progress and intervening dark ages." And the quote that defines my job in a nutshell "*What* a button does can be learned, *how* it does so is best left to the shamans."
In the past few years my own ideas have begun to crystalize into a story. I have finally begun to write it down. I had thought in the past few months that I should write a letter to Mr. Flynn to let him know the positive impact he has had on my life.
Guess I'll never get that chance.
I have read most of his books and will truly miss his brilliance.
ReplyDeleteA truly great and amazing writer. I never read his blog, but the spirit of the man shone through his fiction. I’m sorry for your loss.
ReplyDeleteI am very sorry to hear this. I knew your father through GLVWG's Writers Cafe--so I saw and heard his comments weekly. I am so glad I have In the Belly of the Whale--his latest book on pre-order.
ReplyDeleteBlessings to you and his family - for many of us he will live through his words.
I am sorry for your loss. As someone from the other end of the world, who only knew your father from this blog, I am thankful for the stimulating effect his blogging has had on my thought. It was fresh and independent discourse in the best sense of the world.
ReplyDeleteRequiescat in pace.
Requiescat in Pace
ReplyDeleteMay God grant him eternal peace.
ReplyDeleteYour father was a fantastic man who helped me recover and build on my faith. He had a beautiful and strong spirit which he loved to learn and help people learn. He will not be forgotten.
I'll pray you go through his loss in the most peaceful way. Until you meet him again, may God hold you in His hand.
Your father's death is a great loss to the world, but no doubt a great gain to Deep Heaven, and to his beloved wife, who awaits him. Eternal rest grant to him, O Lord!
ReplyDeleteI was a better person for having known him. I was a better person for having read him. I share in your grief.
ReplyDeleteThank you Michael and rest in peace.
ReplyDeleteI never met him, but I'll miss him anyway.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry for your loss. May he rest in Eternal Peace.
ReplyDeleteMay he rest in peace with his Incomparable Marge!
ReplyDeleteI remember reading Mr. Flynn's comments on Ed Feser's blog starting 10 or more years ago. Reading Feser's blog and engaging with the commenters there was part of my process of getting sober. He was always a great commenter there and had written excellent content here on his own blog.
ReplyDeleteMemory eternal.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting this. I met your father only a few times at Balticon, but always enjoyed his work. For years, I hoped he would publish a paper version of The Great Ptolemaic Smackdown and that he would return to the world of the January Dancer. Now it is too late but I will always treasure what I read and what I learned. God bless you and the rest of your familyl
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ReplyDeleteI just learned of his passing and I can already say that his wit and his thought-provoking writing will be sorely missed.
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I am so sorry to hear about the passing of Michael Flynn. You, of course, knew him personally. I just knew him as Ye Olde Statistician, probably one of the most learned and brilliant Catholic thinkers on the Internet. He took discussions to another level rarely seen. God be merciful upon this His servant and receive him into His bosom.
ReplyDeleteSorry for your loss.
ReplyDeleteSome 15 years ago, I chanced into a debate with an atheist on some forgotten corner of the internet and Ye Olde Statistician arrived to mop up the mess. His breadth of knowledge and skill with words had me visiting the blog daily for years after that.
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ReplyDeleteRIP.
ReplyDeleteCondoleances to you.
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I am sorry to hear that. My condolences and prayers for him and all you, his family.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading his very thorough series on the Great Ptolemaic Smackdown, and many of his other remarks.
A long distant second place question is what will happen to the blog--I hope it will not vanish or be overcome by spammers and scammers...
Late to see this and very sorry to read it. One of my favourite authors, he is sorely under appreciated. My condolences. Fred
ReplyDeleteMy deepest sympathy. His blog is amazing and he had people who settled in Cincinnati. I am sure there is a connection to my Flynns.
ReplyDeleteDebbie Colson (my mother was a Flynn)
I'm very sorry to hear this - my deepest sympathies to the family. His writings on ancient Alexandria are the most clear, most accurate and most funny explanation of that time and place I've ever read. Praying for you all at this sad time.
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