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RIP OSJ 1957-2021


Zimbra

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Still in shock after reading this.

OSJ was one of those names that has been around as long as I've been a member of or lurked on many message boards.

Our tastes were different but similar in wrestling, music, baseball, and of course literature.

I always looked forward to reading his response whenever a topic came up that I knew would get him going.

This sucks.

It feels like like losing a family member.

R.I.P. John Pelan

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I don't come into this forum that much...reading of John's passing really sucks. By the sounds of all the stories he shared here, he lived quite the life and was a fantastic contributor to this board. He will be missed. 

RIP @OSJ??

EDIT: got this link from wrestlingclassics

https://locusmag.com/2021/04/john-pelan-1957-2021/

Edited by Infinit
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I don’t really comment on here a lot, but I always logged on to see what a few people were talking about, and OSJ was a big one.

This really hurts. It feels like a favorite professor has passed away. Any time Jon would recommend a book or a film, I’d always at least took a look at it. Such an influential person.

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On 4/29/2021 at 6:33 PM, DEAN said:

I remember we bonded over this record 25 years ago.

 

I live out in the cornfields (for the next month at least) and when I get restless and bored I drive around and find old cemeteries, abandoned farmhouses, other things to take pictures of or hang out in and listen to music in the car in between wasting gas. Anyway, I pulled into one of my favorite cemeteries, a nice one with a little church on a hill with a nice trio of beautiful weeping willows surrounding a curve in the back where you can sit in the shade and fuck with the stereo and not be bothered since it's far enough from the road. 

I stopped to flip through the dial, looking through all the records I have on the thumb drive, and what did I find? 

This. 

Go figure. Hey, John. 

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When you saw OSJ's avatar next to a well-manicured paragraph, you knew it was time to sit down and ingest some proper, surly, genuine prose. And the one-line quips? Psh, get outta here. He was a man of Taste and Experiences. RIP

On 1/23/2021 at 1:47 PM, OSJ said:

He leaves the world a poorer place for his absence and a much richer place for his having been here.

 

Edited by John E. Dynamite
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ah, hell. i just saw this and my day is crushed.

John was a hell of a good dude. i talked with him multiple times via PM about Golden Age comics, custom action figures, punk music, and whatever else was going on. i actually sent him some comic books just last summer. hope he got a chance to read them. Like many others, i loved his baseball HOF threads that were fated to be shut down before anybody else would have a chance to respond. He was always good for a laugh, a kind word of encouragement, or an out-of-touch statement that just made you cock your head for a minute. But even at the worst, he was never malicious and would back down and apologize when called on it- a rare feature.

I will miss him and his outlook and his stories. RIP to him, and my condolences to his wife Kathy. 

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Holy shit.

This one got to me because I first started posting on DVDVR in high school and I'm now a 40 year old man still posting here (albeit about my endless Platinum trophy hunting on PlayStation because I have no interest in modern wrestling anymore. Why the hell is Kenny Omega a World champion much less holding TWO World titles?).

OSJ is what lured me to this site and I always enjoyed reading his thoughts and seeing the direction threads would take when he would contribute.

Plus, he turned me on to The Cramps and The Gun Club too.

God speed John. I raise a glass of bourbon in your honor.

Edited by Andrew POE!
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So sad to hear. He had a wealth of knowledge about genre fiction, and lots of advice for aspiring writers (especially if they ever reached a point where their work was optioned for screen). He always had some good words to say about modern wrestling when most his age have long since checked out of it. Just in general a warm, bright voice.

Rest, John.

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So many of us were 20ish when we joined, when John was 40ish... Now we are 40ish and he's gone. Y'all know what that means, right? We must honor the man by following in his footsteps. 

I've got three cats, so that's a start! 

For real, though, I can only hope to be 60+ and still connecting and conversing with people so much younger. If that's not something to aim for, I don't know what is ?

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i've spent many, many hours today going back and reading old posts of his. i don't know if it's cathartic, per se, but it helped me connect with the man even moreso than before.

Among the many interesting quotes, this one stands out:

Quote

For what it's worth, there are five words that have earned me many thousands of dollars (I do not exaggerate) in a thirty-year sales career, I've also found the same five words to be invaluable when it comes to increasing my general knowledge. Certainly, any occasion that I'm tempted to use the "it was before my time" cop-out I swap in this phrase instead. Try it for a week and see what happens. The magic words are "***Can you tell me more?"

 

well, that, and the fact that he defended Roman Reigns and bought into him as a top guy way back in 2013 when the Shield was still together. And all of the cat posts. And his wealth of knowledge on SF/Horror/Fantasy books and authors. i even found some of my own posts saying that i would check out this book or that author that i never followed through on. damn shame. But most of all, each time he would post about his family or his health had even more of a real feel. I miss ya already, @OSJ. Rest in peace, and read all the books.

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This is such sad news. OSJ is someone I had a few direct interactions with over the past two decades but he was always nice to me when we did. I'm gonna miss the stories of his cats and all his knowledge he'd drop about old wrestlers, comics, and authors. 

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RIP OSJ.

I recently bought his book.  Still haven't read it, but my dad did.  He loved it.  I was waiting to tell him after we self-published, but I took inspiration from him and wrote a short novel with my son.  Now I'll never be able to send it to him.

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I'm just seeing this news and it's hitting me harder than I would ever think. OSJ has been a fixture in my life for years and I've always loved his presence on the board. He talked to me when I made a post about getting clean from drugs and alcohol and it meant a lot to me, something I've carried with me as a reason I've returned to this board almost daily since high school. He will be missed, quite a bit. RIP. 

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I only interacted with John a few times, mainly when I'd randomly mention I was reading a book recommended to me by an author I never heard of that he'd reveal was actually a genre titan (after one of these he posted in one of the "what are you reading threads" asking how people who weren't already into books, or at least genre fiction, were managing to find out what's worth looking into). Anyways I think the last time this happened was when I wrote I was reading and enjoying "A Voyage to Arcturus", he praised the hell out of the writer and recommended picking up a copy of "Devil's Tor" which he felt was the writer's masterpiece. I thanked him for the rec but said something along the lines of at the rate I read stuff I probably wouldn't get to it for several years. I started reading it today as it felt like the right time. RIP John.

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John was one of the guys on here who would open his mouth about stuff to read and I'd start looking for copies of it the library or on Amazon. I think the majority that read BleakWarrior on this board did so at John's recommendation. He is going to be missed because his was a voice that it seemed we all respected and took heed of.

James

Edited by J.H.
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Meltzer wrote a couple of lines in the new WON

Quote

John Pelan, a longtime subscriber and wrestling historian (using the name “Old School John”) who was better known writing horror fiction, passed away on 4/12 at the age of 63 of an apparent heart attack. He was living at the time in Gallup, NM. He was considered a significant figure in the dark fantasy and horror field. In 1986, he founded Axotol Press, and in the 90s, Darkside Press, Midnight House in the 90s and Dancing Tuatara at Ramble House. He also published and edited Steve Yohe’s book on Ed “Strangler Lewis” which is the best and most detailed book on pro wrestling history in the first half of the 20th century.

 

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