Comments on: Mike Nebeker: 1967-2009

By: Peter

Peter — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:38:41 +0000

I just saw the post on the DunDraCon website. I am sad to read of Mike’s passing. I knew Mike from DDC and as a mutual friend of Spectrum employees. We would talk only at the con but would make a point of catching up each year. I would greet him with Pippin, a nickname which I always felt exemplified his best qualities. He told that not many people called him that anymore but he did not mind my using it. I knew Mike as a lover of games, gaming, and people. The thing that strikes me today was his unwavering dedication and commitment to help his mother, father and grandmother. So many of us are “unavailable” for family members in need… but not Mike. I pray that he may be with God and those that he loved that have gone before him. — Mike, I will still “see you” at DunDraCon this February. Your friend, Peter

By: David Koppel

David Koppel — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:42:09 +0000

Mike’s sudden death comes as a complete shock to me. We met at the Altarena Playhouse where I enjoyed watching and working with him on stage.

Mike was passionate about theatre and the arts. He was a perfectionist and a gifted comic actor whose timing was impeccable. I approached Mike about starting an independent theatre company.

If it weren’t for his creativity, enthusiasm, friendship and support, Arclight Rep Theatre wouldn’t exist today. He not only came up with the name for our theatre but his ideas and professional committment were essential in laying the foundation for the artistic mission and creative focus for the organization.

He played a vital role both onstage and off in Arclight’s first mainstage production of AS YOU LIKE IT at the Altarena Playhouse in 2006. His mischievious Touchstone and delicious, home baked macaroons were a highlight for audiences, cast and crew alike.

Although Arclight and Mike went our separate ways, I always made a point of inviting him to auditions and performances as our guest. I regret that I never had the opportunity to work with him again after 2006.

His creativity, passion, fun-loving sense of humor, easy going nature and friendship will be dearly missed. I feel blessed to have been a small part of his life and will be forever touched by his gentle and kind spirit.

Arclight’s artistic work and success serves as one of Mike’s lasting legacies. We will continue to honor his memory by providing the highest quality theatre and arts education programs in the Bay Area.

Goodnight, sweet prince and God bless you.

By: Jeremy Forbing

Jeremy Forbing — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:26:26 +0000

I had the chance to work with Mike on stage, and he seemed so plugged into theatre that I had no idea he had touched so many lives in other areas. But now that he’s passed, I see that his love for the theatre– a love which seemed so full to many of us that I imagined it had to consume all of his imaginative energies– was just a fraction of the enthusiaism he was able to apply to so many other creative endeavors as well. In our lives, we should all be so lucky and so loving as to pour that much of ourselves into so many worlds and touch so many lives. Goodbye, Mike. And God bless you.

By: Tiffany

Tiffany — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:56:15 +0000

My heart goes out to his family and friends. He was too young to go! This news make me very sad.

By: Matthew

Matthew — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:39:51 +0000

Dear lord. As we gather close from the recent loss of a dear friend please be with Mike’s family and guide them to your love and please be with his friends as well. Let us rejoice in the time we have spent with Mike and the fun we have had. Please carry us though our days now as we remember Mike. We pray this in your hevenly name, Amen. The lord givith and the lord taketh away but still we will say Blessed be his name.

By: Sean

Sean — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:34:40 +0000

I met Mike in 1995 while working on the Oakland Temple Pageant. We worked backstage together for many years and he was always a good teacher and a reliable volunteer. However, the moments I most remember of him were not the times he worked in black but at the times he would sing to us about our Savior’s love or other songs that would lighten our loads and help the work go easier. Mike was a tough worker and he will be greatly missed.

By: Matt Timson

Matt Timson — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:32:02 +0000

Very sad news indeed- much too young. My thoughts are with his friends and family.

By: Karl

Karl — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:26:40 +0000

I met Mike at a Gamestore in Oakland where I was gamemastering demos back in my early 20′s. That evolved into a friendship, inviting him to games at my friend Steve’s (at least that’s how I remember it… the order and timing of that may be mixed up… my memory is not what it once was), and through Steve we both got jobs at Spectrum HoloByte. He went away on mission about the time our lives as friends started to diverge again. We reconnected yearly at DunDraCon, where I had once been on the staff of, and now he was.
The things I remember most about him is how he was always a bright spot in the world. Almost always cheerful and upbeat. He always seemed to see the brighter side of things.
I find the world just a little dimmer with a Mike-shaped missing piece. I wish I had learned of this podcast sooner… I plan to listen to them now to regain some parts of Mike’s world I missed out on.

By: Robert Lacher

Robert Lacher — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:42:17 +0000

Knew Mike threw gaming at Hillary’s and Dundercon for over fifteen years now. Wonderful sense of humor really good guy all around. Him going like this,.. just is jaw dropping. I will miss him.

By: Mhari Lindhaven

Mhari Lindhaven — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:49:30 +0000

I first met Mike when we were both working as testers at Spectrum Holobyte. He could always make us laugh. I remember the absolutely insane competitions during Stunt Driver testing, with the accompanyng “I didn’t know you could DO that!” response, and the late afternoon challenge of who could run over the most pedestrians without going out of our lane. Mike, you will be missed!