FOR MY FRIEND DON

He was a mentor and supporter to so many of us…and, unknowingly, an inspiration to many others.

Sending you a virtual hug…hope you don’t mind if tears dampen your shoulder.

Gilder

Excellently said Gilder…He will be greatly missed…

I’m so sorry. I never had the good fortune to meet him, but he certainly did have presence. hugs

Melissa

My thoughts and prayers are with all of Don’s family and friends. He was a great man and a great story teller. I was lucky enough to have met him a couple of times and will cherish all those memories.

A very very sad day.

Hugs, Patti Toronto

tears fall/sobs huggles you Don will be sorely missed……He was such a talented man… ~Danielle

I was very saddened to hear of Dons passing. I had the great pleasure of meeting him in 2006 and I will remember it for the rest of my life. One of the sweetest, kindest men I will ever meet.

I never had the chance to meet Don, but everybody who met him had nothing but kind words to say… I’ll miss seeing him, and I can’t see any Stargate SG-1 movie without him :(

My condolescences to you on the loss of a great friend. Don’t know what else to say…

Don was one of the reasons I loved SG1 so much, his character was awesome, but it appears his real character was even more so, if you think so Colin, then it must be true, I didn’t have to read this blog for long to realise that you have integrity and can pick those with integrity also.

My thoughts to you, all those that loved Don and virtual hugs is all I can send, but I just so wish I could give you a real hug right now.

Don S Davis was sucha a sweet, kind and genourous man, he is missed already. So sorry for the loss of your friend.

I’m sorry that you lost such a great personal friend and I feel for your pain. He was a great wonderful gentleman.

I didn’t get to know him like you did, but we all loved him… and no matter who took his place, we always had a part in our hearts that missed him and wished for his return.

The few times I talked to him, he was a wonderful, friendly, caring, affable person, as interested in us as we in him. And like I told Joe, I loved that he didn’t mind coming to the Professionals lounge at Comic Con where the ‘common folk’ industry professionals would go, instead of hightailing it back to the suites maintained by the studios and networks. And he didn’t hold himself apart and talked with whoever was there.

Whenever I’d see him in anything, whether as a bad guy or good guy, I’d greet his appearance with a smile and a warm feeling… I’m going to miss seeing his talent.

Condolences for the loss of your friend.

Hey Colin. I think anger is about right. I’m not only sad but I feel bitter about it too. Having just lost an online buddy to cancer, I was totally shocked to hear about Don’s passing. I was one of the lucky ones who had the pleasure in meeting him and spending a weekend getting to know him and chat with him. And although it was one of the best weekends of my life, I was fully expecting to meet him again. Of course I can’t possibly comprehend how you must be feeling and I won’t dare to try to pretend to know what you are going through. I’m glad Don played a huge wonderful role in your life. He certainly made a huge impression on mine. I only wish more people could embrace love and life the way Don did. He knew his health was an issue but he took steps to help himself. I wish more people could follow his example and heed health warnings and accept that life is not a privilege but a gift. Don was and always will be remembered with love. Take care Colin. I’m so sorry you lost a dear friend. Love Chelle DeBoer (Melbourne, Australia)

I’m so sorry for your loss. I never had the chance to meet Don, but I’m still mourning his passing. My heart goes out to those of you who knew him.

Don was at the very first convention I attended, and I remember well his gentle manner and how he put this bundle of nerves at ease. I was lucky enough to meet him several more times at conventions and saw the same sweet natured fellow. He will be sorely missed.

My heart goes out to those friends who loved him and especially to the woman who gave him so much love in his last years, Ruby. I know what she is going through at this moment, having suffered exactly the same loss in the same way four years ago.

Thankyou Colin for your eloquent tribute. This is the third loss in the last month that I have borne, two of them young fans. I’m **ing mad too!

Hug your loved ones.

Kay aka Mumsey (UK)

Hola decidi escribir en mi idioma , para que demostrar ademas del inmenso cariño que este hombre llego a merecer por todoslos de habla hispana que son muchos

para nosotros, que aprendimos de él atraves de Stargate y de ahi en adelante de su trabajo, es una perdida.

No podia creer la noticia, realmente creo que es una perdida para toda la gente que aunque no lo conocio en persona , valoro al personaje, al actor, al hombre.

Un privilegio fue para ud, Mr Colin asi kmo para Mr. Davis su amistad, estoy seguro

Mis mas sinceras condolencias.

atte

Marcelo Cerna (Concepcion-Chile)

I feel your anger, Colin. As chelle db said, I had planned to see Don again too. Less than 2 months from now he was going to be a guest at the Chicago Creation convention, and since he didn’t come out last year, I was really excited to see him on the guest list. He was such a fantastic story teller that I think we asked him to tell the story of how he and Ruby got together all three years! I was going to have him sign my 10 Years of SG-1 book, but now I’m going to dedicate the place he would have signed to him, so no one else will take it. I marvel at the timing of these things. It makes me want to scream at how unfair the world is. Why do the angels on earth have to leave us so fast?

Hi Colin: We all loved Don, for one reason or another - his laughter, his sense of humour, his love for everyone and his presence. And I know that we will continue to see pieces of him in any role that you portray. My thoughts go out to you, his wife, and anyone whose life has been touched by “the man”. My Condolences

Colin, sorry for your loss and for the loss of everyone who knew him well, especially Ruby. And thank you for sharing a side of the man I hadn’t known of.

I only had the pleasure of meeting Don once and he seemed a consumate gentleman; I’ve attended a few conventions now and met many lovely people but Don was unique: Firstly, he brought his lovely wife with him to the conventions and she was there during the signings. Secondly, it was a large convention I met Don at. Not one of the smaller, more intimate events that I generally prefer. These places, as many here know well, are places where the signature is a very quick thing and move on. The queue for Don was (as you’d expect) long. I’ve been thinking of this for the last few days and I don’t think I spent much more time with Don than I did with anyone else with the long queues but he looked up, smiled, proffered his hand for a handshake and introduced his wife. And you knew that he did that act of caring for everyone there. But mostly, you could tell that with him, meeting the fans was (almost) as much as a treat for him as it was for us.

In short, the great character of Hammond was a pale reflection of the great man that was Don S Davis. And I know those who knew him well will miss him more but I still feel the loss myself. God Speed sir.

I’m sorry to hear about this, brother. My condolences to you and Don’s other friends and family. What a sweet man he must have been. I wish I could have known him.

Death is something we never get used to, and God help us if we do. But it’s especially difficult when we lose someone who was a mentor as well as a friend; someone who helped us grow and become who we are, for then a part of ourselves is also lost, too, at least until the sadness and anger eases.

I don’t claim to have all the answers, but I wrote something in an attempt to make some kind of sense of the losses I’ve had. Readers have told me it has helped them in their grieving. I pass it along to you in the hopes that it might ease your anger and sadness, too.

Peace,

Mark

HOW WE SURVIVE

If we are fortunate, we are given a warning.

If not, there is only the sudden horror, the wrench of being torn apart; of being reminded that nothing is permanent, not even the ones we love, the ones our lives revolve around.

Life is a fragile affair. We are all dancing on the edge of a precipice, a dizzying cliff so high we can’t see the bottom.

One by one, we lose those we love most into the dark ravine.

So we must cherish them without reservation. Now. Today. This minute. We will lose them or they will lose us someday. This is certain. There is no time for bickering.

And their loss will leave a great pit in our hearts; a pit we struggle to avoid during the day and fall into at night.

Some, unable to accept this loss, unable to determine the worth of life without them, jump into that black pit spiritually or physically, hoping to find them there.

And some survive the shock, the denial, the horror, the bargaining, the barren, empty aching, the unanswered prayers, the sleepless nights when their breath is crushed under the weight of silence and all that it means.

Somehow, some survive all that and, like a flower opening after a storm, they slowly begin to remember the one they lost in a different way …

The laughter, the irrepressible spirit, the generous heart, the way their smile made them feel, the encouragement they gave even as their own dreams were dying.

And in time, they fill the pit with other memories, the only memories that really matter.

We will still cry. We will always cry. But with loving reflection more than hopeless longing.

And that is how we survive. That is how the story should end. That is how they would want it to be.

My heart goes out to you and all of Don’s friends and family, Colin. I was so shocked and deeply saddened to hear this news. Like others who’ve commented here, I too never had the chance to meet the wonderful Don S. Davis.

Don and his General Hammond character always reminded me of my own grandfather, who passed away himself in March at the age of 87. The kicker to that is that Don was only 5 years older than my father. Far too young to die in my opinion. It’s a bit like I’ve lost my grandfather twice. It’s probably a little crazy to feel that way, but I truly believe he brought such presence to his performances as to spread the warmth from that huge heart of his to everyone who ever came into contact with him in any way.

I wish I could give you a hug right now, dude. Thank you for sharing how close he was to you, hearing it reiterates what an amazing man he was.

I still can’t believe he’s gone and am angry at myself for not trying harder to go to a Stargate convention sooner so I could have met him.

And if I’m feeling that way I can only imagine how deeply you are feeling this. Know that all of us fans of Stargate are out here thinking of you.

Sincerely,

Jenny M. Finster

I could not believe it when I heard. It’s been a few years since I’ve been to a convention or even watched Stargate, but I’ll never forget Don… never could. I feel lucky I got to meet him at Gatecon.

His heart really was so big, I think that’s what I remember most about him. He just had this presence and way of making you feel good. There could be a hundred other fans in the room but if he was talking to you it was like you were the only person there. He put one-hundred percent of his energy into you, he was genuinely interested in meeting you and listening to what you had to say.

I still laugh a little when I remember him signing autographs, his line was always the longest because he would just chat up everyone. They were always trying to get him to just sign and move on, but he never would. lol. Each person was as important as the last.

It doesn’t seem possible that he’s gone. I know the phrase ‘He’ll be missed’ is slightly overused and a little cliche… but he really sincerely will be missed by so many people.