peace be upon him

Someone I know died today. It doesn't make any sense. He wasn't even 40. He felt ill, and then died - that fast.

His name was Mach Arom.

In his work he tried to make beautiful things. Outside of work he tried to fix ugly ones.

When the tsunami hit, he founded a relief organization that made multiple trips to rebuild in Phuket. It was only days after the disaster that he started organizing, and he ultimately rounded up hundreds of people. Teams of volunteers drawn from unlikely worlds like the cynical provinces of advertisingland who put their lives on hold and used their precious vacation days to travel to Thailand and help. And they did help. They rebuilt a school. They mended boats and hospitals and playgrounds. They taught art.

And today, the day he died, Mach was in Rwanda, doing work for the International Rescue Committee.

Mach was funny. Mach loved technology. Mach kept a bowl of Japanese candy in his office, but never ate it himself. Mach had a dog.

The world is uglier without him in it. I hope we can pick up the slack.