January 28, 2005 Friday
Our father, Jack O'Neil, passed away last night at his home.
Rest in peace.
Original site statement below:
* This site is done by Daniel X. O'Neil and Kevin J. O'Neil
* Jack O'Neil is our father
* He lives in Sewickley, outside of Pittsburgh, PA
* He is opinionated
* He has written Letters to the Editor of both the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the (now-defunct) Pittsburgh Press
* We haven't lived there in a long time, so we've not consumed them in the course of the daily news
* We got all of these Letters to the Editor to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from their website after another brother had discovered them
* We are serializing them here
* We disagree with a goodly amount of this printed matter
* That's not really important
* Text is really all that counts
* This site is really just a series of seconds takes on original texts
* Here's two more examples of the same sort of thing: GoogObits and GoogOgraphy
* All of which are a part of a larger concept known as the Derivative Works Movement. More on that here
* We invite your comments
Very nice! I had a time of it understanding what was going on here. Smooth.
Posted by: filchyboy | January 27, 2004 at 12:16 AM
As a Pittsburgh resident, I remember reading many of these letters firsthand. The collection is priceless. Thank you.
Posted by: Dreama | January 27, 2004 at 01:35 PM
Kevin and Dan - I obviously never met your father, but knowing the two of you tells me he was a good man who had strong convictions and was involved and active in the world. I'm sorry to hear about his death... He may not have understood what you were doing with this blog, but the rest of us will read his words and remember him long after he's gone.
Posted by: Kimberly | January 28, 2005 at 11:54 AM
I did a Google search on "Sewickley History" and your site was the first result. I got to know your father from a Bible study class. What a character and a good man he was. Your tribute to him is wonderful.
Jack is still present at bible study every Sunday. For example, I had the privilege of leading the group yesterday, but because I was running late, I neglected to bring the doughnuts as is my duty as leader. Theo remarked wistfully about what Jack might have said about the lack of doughtnuts and we all laughed at such a fond memory of a lovable curmudgeon.
Shortly after his death, we spent the bible study sharing stories about Jack. Since I was relatively new to the group, I did not have the wealth of stories others had. I did remark, however, that a fond memory I will have of Jack is how he would lead us in the Lord's prayer at the end of every bible study meeting. He would always preface the words "Our father" with an introduction that would usually end with "...we pray to whose father?..."
Lo and behold, John, the regular group leader, has unofficially appointed me successor in this regard. Now, I carry on this legacy by leading the group out of Bible study in a way that mimics Jack's lead. As I said, Jack is still with us in Bible study every Sunday.
Posted by: Anthony Cerminaro | June 13, 2005 at 12:34 PM