April 23, 2009, ARG designer, beloved husband, father, and friend Dave Szulborski passed away.
As announced by Dee Cook at unfiction:
Dave Szulborski passed away last night after a long and incredibly courageous battle with leukemia. He leaves behind his wife Marianne, his baby son Tyler, and many many friends both online and in the real world.
If you are interested in attending the funeral services, here’s the information:
Sunday night, visitation at Long Funeral Home, 500 Linden Street, Bethlehem, PA from 6-8 PM.
Monday morning, memorial service at St. John’s Windish Lutheran Church, 617 East Fourth Street, Bethlehem, PA at 11 AM.
If you would like to send along your respects:
It was Dave’s wish that in lieu of flowers, people contribute towards his son’s education. You can do so by sending a check to the following:
Long Funeral Home
500 Linden Street
Bethlehem, PA 18018Make the check payable to Long Funeral Home, and put “Tyler Szulborski Education Fund” in the memo.
Also, there is a memorial page posted at the funeral home site where you can write in the guest book, and there will be an obituary posted on The Morning Call tomorrow.
Last, Dave’s wife Marianne would love to hear from you and keep in touch with the community. Her email address is beachmomma8991SPLATaol.com. She said that she is going to put some of the strings of cranes in with Dave to rest.
I personally met Dave only a couple of times, through the annual ARGFest events. Last year, Dave S. graced us with his presence in Boston, and providing the Keynote address: “The Story Inside: Making ARGs for Fun and Profit”. Fun always came first.
Two years ago, I had the privilege being selected as Dave’s Secret Santa at Unfiction. I was floored, and immediately felt that pressure of hoping to find a gift that would be greatly appreciated (knowing, of course, he would appreciate any gift at all). I gave him a copy of a book he was hoping to read at some point. And as is quite common, I made up a special puzzle for him to solve on receiving the book. I never found out if he solved it. As a matter of fact, I never even found out whether he liked the book or not.
I was also privileged to be on the receiving end of some of Dave’s ARG swag from a game called Monster Hunters Club for the foreign film The Host. My name was drawn randomly from entrants to receive – to save – an old collectible monster figurine or action figure. On my doorstep a short while later was some unique ARG swag from the game. Don’t worry, Dave. Bionic Bigfoot will be safe from harm.
It was only two months ago, precisely, that I blogged about Dave’s condition, happy that was back out of the hospital and doing fine. Funny how fast things can change.
The few times I met him and spent time with him, he made an enormous impression. I recently bought his book “This Is Not A Game“, and am slowly reading through it. Dave was a brilliant, creative, intelligent game creator. Others who’ve known him on a far more personal level and who’ve worked with him are expressing the same sentiments. He was a wonderful leader and inspiration to us all.
This article can’t possible describe all that Dave has done, or even come close to paying a satisfactory homage to the man. So I resign to simply share my personal reflection of his influence in my life.
Dave, you will surely be missed.
(Please review the announcement above for information about Dave, memorials, donations, and others sharing about Dave)
South by Southwest Interactive
Creativity-Online.com has posted an in-depth behind the scenes interview with 
The 2008 
