About Lugnut -- Patrick Malone


Many of us have come to know Patrick Malone (Lugnut) as a friendly, helpful, knowledgeable and kind individual. He is a frequent and enthusiastic contributor to our analog discussion forum. He has initiated only 17 threads, but responded to 559 threads. I would guess that many, if not most, of us can recall a time when Pat replied with helpful advice to a question we posted or helped us track down a rare recording. I have come to love Pat as a friend, and to respect him as a man, and I suspect many of you share those feelings.

Today I write to share difficult news with you. Pat has been diagnosed with an aggressive stomach cancer. It has yet to be determined whether surgery will even be worth it. If surgery is performed, most or all of the stomach will be removed, and Pat would face a difficult and long post-op period in the hospital. The medical course is still uncertain, but will be determined soon. Whatever is decided, it will not be easy or pleasant.

Something may be planned in the future to assist the family. For now, Pat could use some of the friendship he so often and willingly showed us. You can email Pat at: [email protected]. You can also mail cards, letters ... or whatever. You may email me for Pat's mailing address. My email is: [email protected].

I hope to spend a few days with Pat in Idaho or Nebraska (from which he hails) soon. Between this news, my legal work, getting ready for family arriving for the holidays, Audio Intelligent, and trying to make plans to visit Pat, my head is spinning. If you email me and I don't respond, please understand that I am not ignoring you, but rather simply do not have time to reply.

Pat may or may not have time to respond to posts here, to emails, or to cards mailed to him. But he has asked me to convey to each and every one of you that he has cherished your friendship, your comradery, and sharing our common hobby on this great website.

As we prepare for our holiday season celebrations, and look forward to -- as we should -- enjoying this time of year, I ask that you keep Pat and his family in mind ... and softly offer up, in quiet moments in the still of night and early morning, prayers for Pat and his family. God bless.

Warmest regards to all,
Paul Frumkin
paul_frumkin
Tireguy and Jmcgrogan,

This thread is amazing and I appreciate your talking about your father. Understand, I will try to outlive all the doom and gloom and don't put a lot of value in statistics. I'm not going to deny the inevitable if and when it comes though. I just don't think denial works in your benefit at that point. That's here for all of us to go through anyway. Nobody is going to escape these earthly bounds without going through death. Enough of this stuff for now. This is a time for living.

The un-amplified jazz was a mixed bag. Some of it was jazz standards, some original music and still some were from the latest top 500 Rolling Stone recommendations. It was fun. Steve mentioned that he felt the sax player was running out of air sometimes. Does anyone play sax? Is it harder on the lungs to play with a sock stuffed deeply into it to quiet it down? I didn't notice this myself last night but the comment has made me wonder if he was working harder than normal.

About this band. They gave me a DVD last night which I hope to pass around to everyone. You can copy it or simply view it and maybe we can figure out a way to pass it around. These guys are really, really talented. Unfortunately, they are professional people and won't be quitting their day jobs anytime soon, but if they did they could find permanent employment in Vegas. The trombone player is the mayor of my city, the drummer is a counselor at Mountain States Tumor Institute and I've known him since the late 80's when I was battling lymphoma. The sax player, who I believe is the finest musician in the band, is a nurse/EMT guy. The keyboardest owns a travel agency and ice cream shop. Everyone else is also professional in their employment as well. They are generally headliners on the West Coast large jazz festivals and the band name is High Street. They have a website and I'm sure it would be easy enough to Google. They have anual standing gigs in NYC but I don't know the particulars as I've never asked. Once a year a local travel agency books a cruise with this band being the reason for going. It always sells out early and is known to be a blast.

I still haven't found a knowledgeable volunteer that will post the photo of Steve, Paul and myself into this thread. I'd really like to see this done. So, if you can insert it please fire me off an email and I'll forward it to you. Thanks in advance.
I've been touched by the posts about forgiveness. You started it, Pat ! Thank you so much for your own story. Amen, Jmcgrogan2, to "life's too short to be carrying around all that anger." It's taken me a while to accept that my story, with its consequences for the way I see things, is a mighty part of what makes me who I am.

Two writers and teachers who I feel have helped me are Byron Katie and the late Anthony de Mello.

One thing I've found is that forgiveness makes it easier to hear music...
OK all, Pat emailed me the picture of he and Steve and Paul. I'm going to try and get a small copy here, and put a link to the full-size one. To quote Pat:

Steve (Vetterone) Dobbins is on the left side and is the tallest guy, I'm in the middle and Paul is one the left

And here is the link:

The Boys

Thanks Pat.
Thanks Jphii,

Say Lugnut, are you a cyclist too? Nice T. And where is the Mrs.? What; a nice rose couldn't squeeze in between the thorns - Ha! Keep the rubber side down, and the tunes spinnin, and may the wind be always at your back. All the best, my friend.