Our lives here at ElectBlue have recently been shaken by the unexpected death of a founding contributor. The world of politics suddenly lost one of the best when Stephen Moody passed away on Friday, March 6th.
A brilliant political scholar and a champion of civil rights, his influence on those in his community, wherever he lived, was broad and long lasting. For many, including myself, he did more than just influence us. Indeed, he changed our lives for the best -- forever. We miss him deeply already.
In the coming days and weeks, we will be adding to ElectBlue additional memories of Steve as well as information about his catalogue of achievements. Several blogs posted by Steve can be found in the ElectBlue Index, which is located on the left column of this page.
For those who do not have our telephone contact information, please contact us via email for updates regarding funeral arrangements. We can be reached at ElectBlue@comcast.net
We invite you to post your own personal, online condolence on this blog. Simply click the word "comments" located immediately below.
Our Faith in Our Creator affords us the privilege to ask for your prayers and support as we cope with the loss of our beloved Steve.
18 comments:
This news came as an absolute shock. Stephen's advice, counsel, and friendship will forever be cherished - and the void will forever endure.
To paraphrase Mark Twain, my condolences go out to those whose sad hearts thicken, and echo the mourners' cries. - ZM
I meet Stephen not but a year or so ago and man what a great person. We did meet at a little poker table and he has deeply influenced my life ever since that day. This man taught me more about the government and this country than any single person I have ever meet. One of the most giving and loving people and also on of the most brilliant!!!! Steve buddy you are deeply going to be missed and I just hope you remember go all in with the aces in your hand buddy!!
Your Loving Friend,
Dustin Higgs
People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime.
When you know which one it is, you will know what to do for that person.
When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They may seem like a godsend and they are.
They are there for the reason you need them to be. Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.
Sometimes they die.
Sometimes they walk away.
Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.
What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done.
The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.
Some people come into your life for a SEASON, because your turn has come to share, grow or learn.
They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.
Believe it, it is real.
But only for a season.
LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons, things you must
build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation.
Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.
Steve's stories, wisdom, and intuitiveness ;) will be greatly missed.
With Sincere Condolences,
Matthew M.
I'm sorry for your loss. I didn't know Steve, but his loss is a loss for all who fight for progressive causes.
Stephen will be missed. I loved talking about politics and genealogy with him.
Stephen was not only a renaissance man, but a true Southern gentleman as well. I will miss him.
I did not know Steve, but my prayers are with his family and loved ones.
Peace.
Saint Augustine of Hippo wrote, on the death of his mother, Saint Monica, "How can I believe that she is dead who lives within my heart!" Stephen Moody will live on forever in our hearts' memories.
I met Stephen at the start of the Kerry campaign in Rutherford County. Generosity, a warm sense of humor and untiring work characterized his leadership. He made newcomers feel welcome and a part of the mission. Our son and daughter visited neighborhood after neighborhood with him,getting out the vote!
My favorite recent memory is "visiting" across the long lines at the Sports com Center on the first day of early voting in Murfreesboro. Voting machines had broken down and I had a first time voter without transportation of her own with me. No one expressed impatience. We simply waited patiently until we got to vote. We were so fired up and confident about changing this nation's leadership to progressive democracy.
Eternal rest grant to him, o Lord, and let perpetual Light shine upon him. Comfort his loved ones with the sure understanding that Steve is alive and well with Him. Saint Stephen, Saint Patrick, Saint Joseph,pray for us. All you holy women and men, pray for us.
Knowing Stephen for just a short period of time, still had a huge impact on my life, and not putting it lightly, changed the rest of my life and future happiness. His friendship, his love and caring heart, for his friends.. for everything truly makes him a role model and i greatly admire Steve. My funnest memory of Steve is playing an 8-9 hour shift of poker at the Ihop, and the many many visits to ihop and waffle house. He will never be forgotten, as he changed the lives of many. I am grateful to have known Steve and call him my friend.
I'll miss you 'Papi',
Caleb K.
a.k.a. 'Boy'
I did not know Stephen well, but having lost several close friends and family members, I certainly know how it feels.
Stephen obviously had a very positive impact on the lives of many. Those we love will always have a place in our hearts, long after they are gone. Let us carry that positive energy and keep it flowing throughout our lives.
Brady S
Steve,
You had a profound impact on my life and I'll never forget you. I hope you'll be proud of me in the decisions I make in my own future. I so wish you were here to offer advice. I'm sure I'll need it as time quickly moves by.
I'll miss so badly -- our long, daily discussions about campaigns, policy, media and the headlines of the day. We didn't miss a beat did we? We weren't quite CNN, but it was fun pretending to be like it! (We would have got there of course and been better!)
Hang out for me until I make it there too. I'll see you again on the other side. Until I do, I'll give the weather folks hell when they get it wrong (Comcast too) and keep the blog in order.
I'll make sure IHOP and Steak-N-Shake get regular visits..and Kroger. We'll play lots of poker, and maybe I'll finally learn Bridge. We'll keep surprising people with palm trees in middle Tennessee. Most important, I promise to continue the fight for the causes we were so devoted to.
I miss you so much already and don't know how I'll get along without you. But I'll see you again on the other side. I'm looking forward to it.
Remembering You Forever,
Bill
Stephen,
We’re all still in shock and sorrow over your passing. It’s a great loss for all of us on both a personal and political level.
Of my memories….the entirety of volunteering together in 2004 non-stop stands out. The “two-guys for Kerry” experiment when we got fed up with our “leadership,” the canvassing in the housing projects, and so on. I had just moved to Murfreesboro to attend MTSU and knew no one, it was an amazing influence to meet someone so successful and intelligent who treated me as an equal. There's probably no person I've known personally that I've admired or respected more than you. Through other campaigns, political ventures, and lunches; I enjoyed every minute of our friendship.
You were also a great inspiration and mentor. My first political mentor to be sure and you’re wisdom and guidance were always valued above all else both within and outside of the confines of politics. From you helping me create my first resume to our numerous conversations about politics, life, art, and film; it was always a joy. At every lunch, your stories were as intriguing as they were entertaining. I will forever remember the last time we talked, at the Antioch IHOP with Bill, and you were talking about German politics and you relayed to us a story about meeting a German party official (and this official’s awkwardness and shyness) and what was so amazing about this story was that this German party official is now Chancellor. That is only one example of the dozens of life experiences of yours that I had to privilege to listen to.
I’ll miss our complaining about Comcast, your complaining about the cold weather, our rhetorical battering of various elected officials, your trademark sense of humor, our lunches (particularly at IHOP, Steak and Shake, and Shoney’s), the texts and phone calls when the political world was abuzz, but most of all your company and your guidance. As I make a decision on graduate school (I truly regret I never informed you that I got 3 acceptance letters in the last couple weeks) and make other decisions in the coming weeks, months, and years, I hope I can make you proud.
Canvassing with you always,
Ben
It's taken a few days to set in but I'm coming to terms with this.
Steve was one of those rare persons that possess a brilliance that should make you feel small by comparison and yet exude an inherent joy that can't help but put you at ease. He could teach you more about politics at a single sitting than a semester of Poly Sci classes and have you laughing the whole time.
I remember working on the Clark campaign in '04 and him letting me come over to watch the election returns since I did not have cable TV. We'd make fun of FOX News commentary and predict state by state outcomes.
I will miss his wit and insightfulness but most of all I will miss his kind heart.
Stephen Moody It has been nearly a week now.. I cannot Believe this we all needed you around a little longer. I know Gianni did.. Who am I going to go to now for help or advice with my aquarium? who am I going to talk to about gardening? Tropical/Botanicals you were always my expert advice. You Don't know just how much you are missed. It is very hard to pass an Ihop,Waffle House,Denny's and steak and shake and hear your voice in my head and see your face. I am going to miss our Poker nights at your place even though I never won! Errrr Unbelieveable! hahahaha. Let me tell you I am Going to Miss you my buddy friend. Love Daniel
I can't believe the news. Stephen, you will be truely missed. I share all the sentiments shared above and it is amazing to see what an impact Stephen had on people's lives.
Stephen,
I first met you back in 2004 during the John Kerry campaign and my life has never been the same. You had a profound impact on my life and you have left a void that will never be filled. I knew you as friend, co-conspirator, and "Dad". You were indeed a father figure to me in so many ways. I can only hope that you know how much I love and miss you!
However, there is simply not enough words to describe just how much you mean to me. I only told you this a few times but you are my HERO! You were strong, intelligent, emotionally mature, and the most compassionate human being I have ever met.
Today, there is an empty seat at a waffle house, but I will not be sad. For I know that your soul has been released out into this amazing world and I will find you in all of its beauty. I will feel your warmth in the sun and always be reminded that better days are still to come.
Until I meet you on the other side I promise to carry on your progressive legacy. I promise to love every human being for who they are and not to be quick to judge. I promise to fight hard for those who cannot fight for themselves. I promise to teach others the lessons you taught me. I promise never to forget you, Stephen Moody.
We have known each other for over five years and in all of that time not once did we ever say good-bye. I know that you will be with all of us and I can't wait till I can once again be in your company.
A.H.F.Y
- BO
Condolence
Yesterday I got informed that Stephen had passed away in March this year. Stephen and I got to know each other while he was living in Europe back in the nineteen’s of the last century. He was a man of great kindness, knowledge and enthusiasm for a better world. I am grateful, that we called each other friends and enriched our lives one another. In my live I had the honour to meet a number of well educated, affectionate and passionate persons, but he truly was one of the greatest ones.
I am grieving for his lost, personally, for his family, his friends, his colleges, for you, the readers and helpers of this blog as well as for the world itself, which has lost a good one. I never will forget him and he will be with me in my thoughts and the way I discover the world and interact in it.
We had lost contact during the last years, but I always new, he was doing, what he always did, being engaged for a better world. His activism for the Democratic Party has been strong. He always was sorrow for the strengthening or new arising problems the world and his home country was facing, especially during the last two US-Presidencies. He was a true cosmopolitan and understood to frame his thoughts with his broad band of international experience and his profound education. I am glad for him he saw arising new hope and saw the hope become a movement and saw the movement becoming a presidency.
Now it is up to us, to even stronger fight for what he did, to help persons, companies and our societies to “precede to the next level”.
Stephen, isn’t it right? That has always been your way of phrasing it to me.
Christian Petersen
Berlin
Germany
Dear Steve,
Hey buddy I have spent some times thinking these past couple of months and thought I would let you in. Well things here are not much changed, Comcast still is terrible, and these weather people should find a new career. Just to let you know Bill, Daniel, and I have managed to stay in touch though not like we would all like, mostly due to Ashley and I are having a baby girl due Feb. 27, 2010. Buddy I miss you bad and wish you were still here but I know that you are waiting on me with a chip and chair, so Im letting you know I will most defintley be there!
Love
Dustin
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