doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Anybody Else Here Feelling the Same Way?

My first reaction was of natural empathy and more than a little curiosity. The more I thought about it I realized that Tony was a stop sign: put on the brakes, observe and reflect. Anyone doing anything serious these days sails close to the wind. Imputing motives leads me more often down the wrong path. Tony, widely admired and respected, gambled that he was doing the right thing. The way he logged out made me more of the man I want to be.

I went thru a terminal cancer scenerio last year with a neighbor and I'm currently going thru another one with a friend from my church. I think we all have to realize that at some point we're going to be in this situation ourselves as we know that ultimately no one gets out alive. I think the telling part with Tony was he was so young and also had a great deal of talent that was appreciated by members of this forum.
Being over 65 I'm to the point where when I wake up in the morning I look at it as a "Bonus Day" and I am thankful for getting another turn.
Jim

As John Irving said in one of his books: "We are all terminal cases".

My impression is that Tony shared his illness in a kind of "matter of fact" way that
should be admired. It is amazing to realize that he shared this BBS for around only
20 months and got to be well admired for all his positive attributes.

I miss his knowledge and enthusiasm for all things DoubleGun.

JC

I think that's how most people on this board feel when you open your mouth about pretty much anything. Although, I don't think they would miss you as much.

Tony's plight struck a chord with me while at the same time it was depressing to me and many others to be subjected emotionally to his terrible ordeal. People handle grief in different manners and I guess this board and subjecting the people here to his poor prognosis was Tony's way of coping. Life is complicated and bittersweet and I am thankful I got to know Tony Treadwell despite the minor burden placed on me and all here. Recently, a friend of mine had an argument with his wife, grabbed a 12 ga shotgun with a deer slug, stuck the muzzle under his chin and blew his head off. To me this is the ultimate selfish act and it makes no sense to me why Tony who wanted to live so much dies of cancer while this other man who was physically well, takes his own life. Life is complicated, I guess.

Tough one for me. Touching situation, but you just don't know the full story. I do know he offered a great book, in my opinion, that can endure well off into the future. It's just not my personality to share so much personal info. True or fabricated, it may make me think, but won't sway me like things closer to home. As presented here though, I only wish his family the best.

I miss the DYI aspect of Tony's postings. He shared his restoration experiences, good or bad, and knowledge. I think everyone who read his posts learned something.

Just as when I heard of the tragic death of Ernest Hemingway in July, 1961, and also Jack Kennedy in November of 1963, I recall the words of Irish poet John Donne: "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the mainland; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as manor of thyy friends, or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind- and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee"

Cancer- that word has to be more sinister of any six-lettered word in our lexicon--and no one ever said that life was fair and really knew what they were talking about, did they?

Well! Where do you begin, Tony was a Man.Everything Tony did from an early age he did to extreme. He got into something, and became an expert. How can a Farmer become a Computer expert, how can a computer expert become an underwater cameraman and wildlife film maker, how can he draw cartoons and publish a book of characatures, how can he then get into guns and do EVERY aspect of repair including colour case hardening. Answer, because he found questions and needed answers or he wouldn't rest.
We went Game shooting together and I arranged the shoots and venues, he would say, 'Make sure they can transport me to my peg because of my leg' (or lack of it) he would then march off (limp ) into the distance and get to his peg unaided.
We all on here know his story, what you don't know is the following.
I was impressed with his ebook and said to him 'you need to get this into hard copy and write a book that will be here forever' ye ye he would say and ignore me.
Then he collapsed and was diagnosed with a brain tumour and was given six weeks to live.
So he started to write his book, expand it and revamp it, to do this he would spend after school hours until they went to bed with Will his son and Izzy his daughter, then he would write, often until 3&4 in the morning, knowing full well that I an insomniac would be available, and he would ring or email me in the early hours and say 'does this sound right'. As we know he got it all done the day before he died.
I visited his wife Marie last week, and Marie never knew any of the above, she didn't even know that I was Salopian although Tony would mention the name. Tony never complained, he just did things and did them well.
Tony was as open as a book and shared his problem with you here because we are all in the ether, in cyberspace.
Maybe he needed a crutch, but didn't want to burden his friends. He never felt sorry for himself, and I never was asked 'Why me'.
Consider yourself lucky for knowing Tony. I most certainly do.
Salopian.

People can spin things any way they want - negative people will find something negative about anything and everything. Tony reminded me a bit of John Humphreys the English shooting sports columnist. I read Humphrey's weekly column for years and although I never met the man I felt I knew a bit about him and admired his character. (I wrote a bit about him in the "Silent Doubles" forum and am a bit surprised that nobody who actually knew him added anything)

Humphreys also wrote eloquently about his diagnosis, treatment and impending death. Neither he nor Tony laid a guilt trip on anybody - they dealt with a very difficult situation in a very decent way.

Both made great contributions to our sport and I would not fault either for their personal decisions to speak of their terminal illness.