Joffa - my brother...
I really don't know how to thank you all for the love and support you have given the family during this dreadful time. Jonathan's last days were so terribly sad. He was cared for at home by his mum and dad, with the help of some wonderful nurses and carers. When Jonathan was in hospital he told me about all the wonderful messages of support that were waiting for him on the WOS forum. He was overwhelmed by this and couldn't wait to get home to thank you all. We get so much comfort from the fact that, when Jonathan slipped away from us, he knew just how much you loved him. We read your messages every day and it makes all the pain and sadness that much easier to bear. From the bottom of our hearts...thank you xxx
Chris x
Chris x
Post edited by Joffas sister on
Comments
... I'm rather blank right now ... more later.
its difficult to read without getting a lump in my throat
It's very humbling that despite being very poorly he managed to check the messages here.
Thank you for the update.
I thank you for taking the time to be here to thank us, there really is no need. We all thank Jof for everything...
...literally. :(
I wish I knew what to say without being awkward?
Jof was Ace Bestest! :)
He was a good mate and we thought of him that way before we thought of him as the programming legend of yesteryear, this place is going to be so empty without Jof :(
Yeah.
no it won't boozy he ain't really gone, not as long as we remember him in our hearts and minds he'll be with us forever
That's the thing, isn't it? As a lurker (note for Chris - someone who pops into check forums occasionally but doesn't contribute much!) it didn't strike me that Jof's communications here were about fans of his work or anything like that. He was just a ridiculously funny, gentle bloke who made *friends* here because people could see that.
He was completely bonkers and didn't make sense most of the time, but that was Jof. He was absolutely brilliant. I never really spoke to him much, but I did read most of his posts. They were fantastically off the wall.
I can't think of much else to say except that everyone here loved him for his games when we were all younger, now everyone here loves him for just being here and making us laugh by being himself.
I don’t think I have the stomach for it.
--Raziel (Legend of Kain: Soul Reaver 2)
https://www.youtube.com/user/VincentTSFP
The first part: Too nutty for me, thank you very much. I never had any direct communication with Joffa, didn't really read his posts "just because he was him", and didn't reply to anything he wrote specifically, so I'm not among those that considered him a mate, although I would of course read them when I was attracted by the subject of a given post.
As for the second part: Yes, he was loved, not doubt about that, and even though I didn't have any contact with him I'm going to miss him being around. I think it's a classic case of not knowing what you've got until it's gone. ;)
His games was of course in a league of their own and could easily stand comparison with the best of the competition, and those games has given me much enjoyment over the years. And still do.
So, just because I didn't have any communication with him I still feel sad that he's not here anymore - 43 if just to early for anyone to go...and being 43 myself I can only say that it really puts things in perspective, and I'm glad he didn't doubt how loved he was, towards the end.
Rest in peace, Jonathan. We know you're destined for the top floor. Give 'em hell. ;) :D
My games for the Spectrum: Dingo, The Speccies, The Speccies 2, Vallation, SQIJ.
Twitter: Sokurah
As someone who was posting about getting to grips with Z80, Joffa very soon began PMing little programming titbits to me -- and, in some cases, very extensive quantities of code from his own projects. It was made all the more humbling as I knew already that he was a programmer with legendary status -- a friend of mine (not a regular poster here) had previously told me that Jonathan was a regular on the WoS forums.
So, although it doesn't seem entirely fitting that such a WoS newbie as myself should say anything much at all -- when I know others here are much longer-standing friends of dear Joffa -- I would just like to say, as if it wasn't clear already, that Jonathan was a gem, a truly modest genius, and he won't be forgotten.
Gerald the mouse says goodbye to a dear friend as well and says to remind Frobush that he still owes him a fiver;)
Thank you again, and my sympathies go to you and your family.
I hope you stick around, we're a good bunch on here and we don't always talk about old computers from the 80's ;-)
His posts here were always amusing and I thank him for introducing me to Cyriak's animations and other great finds in the youtube dump thread.
Thank you for posting here and keeping us in touch.
After Doug's tribute, I have little to add. Doug captured what I knew about Joffa and what I felt that I knew thanks to the openness, generousity and creative buzz that Jof brought to these forums.
Love and best wishes to you and the family.
JS
Very talented programmer and a very funny guy at WOS
Your brother was a very talented man. I remember playing his games as a little boy in 80ties and enjoying it very much. In Poland we couldn't buy British games in shops. It was mostly copying a cassette from a friend. And Jonathan's games were one of the most desired copies.
There were other talented programmers but they usually don't care much anymore about this little Spectrum computer and don't come here even to say "Hi" and write a single post in half a year.
Jof was different. He never behaved like a star. He gave very much to this community. Sometimes (maybe often ;) ) his posts were really crazy and weird but between these mad lines you could feel that he's really a FRIEND.
I used to enjoy looking at Joffa's photos.
Obviously, not living too far away from him, I couldn't help but notice his "Cheshire (but not the posh bits)" which he used to indicate where he lived. I did wonder for a while where exactly this might be.
And then one day, he posted a photo which I think was from his back garden and it had the unmistakable Fiddler's Ferry Power Station in the background.
Immediately I could see from the angle of the power station, the only place that photo could've been taken from was Widnes!
Silly story I know, but it meant I could have a laugh later by posting a pic of Widnes Market which may (or may not) have given him a chuckle, after he was good enough to wish me Happy Birthday.
In any case, he was well liked with loads of friends on here and he very kindly posted some of his code to help me with a project I was working on, for which I was very grateful. As I'm hobbyist programmer I don't do it for a living, but I certainly learnt some interesting stuff from him.
I never played his games, and I only had a few PM exchanges with him, so I never knew him that well, but his off the wall comments were always entertaining, and I'll sorely miss his presence here. I feel my words are inadequate to express what I feel.
Ha ha. I remember when I used the phrase 'Widnes accent' he wasn't pleased that I'd revealed his secret location! How was I to know? ;-)
I actually didn't recognise Joff as having an accent, but then again me Mum's from Widnes (and a Rugby League fan), and me Dad's from Cheshire (the posh bits). Not much more that I can say that I haven't already Chris, just enjoy the forums.
Regards,
Shaun.
Sorry, Im completely out.
Yes, sadly Jonathan Smith (Frobush to us) sadly passed away on the 26th of June. :(