R.I.P. Cam Dagg

[Okri]

My condolences go out to Danae and family at this time. I am stunned that things happened so quickly. He'll be in my thoughts.

Great anecdote, Damien, and thank you for it.

[The Original BJ]

Oh my. This is such terribly sad news. I know we will all miss him very much.

Damien, that story about Dorothy Malone is priceless, and certainly evidence that cam would want us to go on enjoying every minute of what we discuss here, even after losing one of our members.

Thank you for being a part of this board, cam! My condolences go out to the family in this very hard time.



Edited By The Original BJ on 1262477533

[kaytodd]

My condolences to Cam's family and other loved ones. His posts on this board were those of a learned, sensitive and intelligent person. And the posts on this thread and the Cam update thread show that he had a good loving family and many friends who were there for him right up until the end of his life here. Only quality people are so blessed. And it shows he was a blessing to a lot of people.

RIP Cam.

[Damien]

He also talked about visiting San Francisco. I'm sure the idea behind that was more to meet Brian (rain Bard) and me than take in the sights. I know he enjoyed his trip to New York, which I think was 2008, not 2007, most of all because he got to spend time with Damien.

You're right, Big. I'm at the age where the years are starting to all blend into one another.

[Precious Doll]

My sincere condolences to Cam's family.

[Big Magilla]

I was still coping with a death in the family earlier this week when I received the news of Cam's move to the hospice, so this is one of the saddest holiday weeks of my life.

I am glad that Cam wasn't in pain and that he kept his good humor to the end.

I'm also glad he got to live in his beloved home with Danae looking out on his beautiful garden until less than a week before his death. I know he was greatly frustrated not knowing what was wrong with him for a long time before he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last summer. His one wish was to be able to last long enough to take Danae on another trip to Costa Rica, but that wasn't to be.

He also talked about visiting San Francisco. I'm sure the idea behind that was more to meet Brian (rain Bard) and me than take in the sights. I know he enjoyed his trip to New York, which I think was 2008, not 2007, most of all because he got to spend time with Damien.

I've seen a lot of deaths at this time of year. Like my cousin by marriage, Ellen, and Cam, they're usually people
with a great love of family who will themselves to live one more Christmas and then resign themselves to the inevitable.

R.I.P. dear man.



Edited By Big Magilla on 1262471027

[Sonic Youth]

It's very difficult to say anything in moments like these, out of fear that what I say won't come across as sensible. I don't think any of us have ever met or spoken with Cam, and yet his voice will be missed. The testimony in how vital he was to this board lies in all the responses here. Warm thoughts go out to his family, from every member of the international band of compatriots of which he was a part of.

[Damien]

I was fortunate enough to have met Cam and Danae. When they were in New York in the fall of 2007, we ate out together a couple times and went to the theatre. They were both charming and delightful with mischievous senses of humor. And, God how he hated George W. Bush!

Cam was so full of life that it was a shock to learn just a few months later that he had cancer. And another shock that his death came so soon.

He handled his illness with great grace and humor, and I will miss him very much.

(My favorite anecdote regarding Cam is that he bitterly detested Dorothy Malone and Written on the Wind because he had entered a local predict-the-Oscars contest in 1956 and this was the only one he got wrong. If Eileen Heckert had won, young Cam would have been the proud owner of a brand new automobile.)



Edited By Damien on 1262489927

[Greg]

My condolences to Cam's family and friends. I hope you all enjoyed your time with him as much as we did.

[Mister Tee]

A paradox: such disheartening news makes commenting on trivial machinations of the film world seem beside the point, even demeaning. Yet, this is why we knew and treasured Cam...because he, like all of us, delighted in such exchanges, and, were it someone else who so sadly left us, he'd be back at it with the rest of us in due time.

I don't know if Danae will be reading these from now on, but, should she be, I'd like her to know that Cam was always a gentleman and worthy presence on the board, one who will be missed horribly. I'm sorry for your sadness, particularly the suddenness of it, but envy you that you spent close to a lifetime with such a distinguished human being.

[OscarGuy]

I am very saddened by this news. He will always be missed and I hope that Danae was able to relay our well wishes to him before he went so he could know just how much we all cared about him.

[rain Bard]

So sudden and sad- even with the preparations Danae was able to give us, I wasn't expecting things to progress this quickly.

Cam was the first board member to establish an off-board correspondence with me, over ten years ago; as a former teacher, I think he was intrigued by my experiences teaching in Thailand at that time, which I occasionally alluded to but didn't go into great detail about on this board. So we corresponded for a while when I was there. It was quite reassuring to have a teacher, even one I had never met "irl", rooting on my successes from across the ocean. We discussed classical music as much as movies; he had a great deal of wisdom on a great many subjects.

Our correspondence became less frequent after my return to San Francisco, for which I blame my own tendency to procrastinate e-mails. But I always was very glad to see his name pop up on the UAADB. It's very sad to think that will never happen again.

In the decade since, I've made many strong friendships that began as on-line exchanges. In an important way Cam really should count as the first of these, even if our communication had become sporadic, and I never had a chance to visit him to meet in person. He's been important to me, as has this board. This is just one of the myriad ways in which he will be remembered for a long time to come.

[ITALIANO]

My deepest condolences to Cam's family.

[anonymous1980]

I'm so sorry to hear that.

My thoughts and prayers go out to his family. It's a comfort to hear that he at least died peacefully.

Wherever you are, cam, I enjoyed reading your posts.

R.I.P.

[FilmFan720]

This is such sad news to hear. Thank you Magilla and Damien for relaying the news the past few days. It is moments like this that strengthen that feeling that this board is it's own quirky little family, and I have lost a small part of my own family.