EMC co-founder kills himself

A true Pioneer

.. and Entrepreneur. I'll also raise my glass to that.

Finally, someone who WASN'T a punk kid in a dorm room.

The "C" never used to stand for "Corporation"

As a former employee, I can authoritatively state that the idea that Dick Egan would create a company called "EMC Corporation" (which he did) where the "C" stood for "Corporation" is laughable ("Egan Marino Corporation Corporation"???? That would have been stupid, and Dick was never that!)

"C" was actually the third partner in the early furniture-business discussions, who dropped out before the business actually started. Something like "Cruickshank", IIRC (which I probably don't). The three met to discuss selling the furniture, which planted the idea of the "EMC" name. "C" dropped out, leaving Egan and Marino.

As to the mechanics of Dick's death, those who try to make a political comment out of it never knew the man. Had he wanted to die in a clinic in (say) Switzerland, he would have done... but the man was Boston Irish, and the way he went seems like the way a scrappy fighter would want to go.

RIP, Dick.

Malc.

@ Prodigal Rebel

why can we put an animal out pf it's misery but not a human? Good question. I suspect it is because humans cannot be trusted not to kill unless it is necessary, and who decides when it is necessary?

I say give people the means to do it themselves and if they cant then go down the assisted suicide route in Switzerland.

A shotgun will suffice though, if i get terminal cancer i want long enough to tie up my loose ends and then pass me the shotgun, better to go out like a light - so fast that you dont know your dead than to waste away in absolute agony.

RIP to him anyway

Right to die

Say what you will about Doctor Kevorkian, why is the idea of having the option to end one's life in a quiet, medically sound and sure way (via lethal injection or what- have- you) worse than having the option to end one's life in a less- guaranteed, probably more painful way (e.g., shotgun to the head, bridgejumping, "suicide by cop", &c)? If someone has decided to go, let her/ him go and have the compassion to make the exit as painless as possible, fer crineouts.

Hang on

to the end - thats the normal human thing to do - just in case. Just keep pumping in the opiates until I just don't care anymore....

Most disturbing

What's most disturbing is that he had to shoot himself in order to reduce his pain. A country cannot call itself "civilized" when it forces the terminally ill to endure constant pain merely to protect the Christians' precious "sanctity of life", particularly so when the person suffering is not a Christian. Something is terribly wrong with your religion when suicide is considered a non-forgivable sin but murder, rape, and torture are forgivable.

If someone has a terminal illness, let them decide to die peacefully. Don't encourage it, but allow them to make that informed decision. Personally, I think this should be an option for non-terminally-ill people as well. I know that many in the medical and mental health professions disagree with me, but the decision to end your life is NOT a sign that someone is no longer of sound mind, especially when they are terminally ill. It simply means that they wish to end their pain.

On another note, fuck Storagezilla and everyone else using the "blah-blah American" moniker. There is no such thing as an Irish American, African American, or Asian American any more than there's an American Irish, American African, or American Asian. He was an American (or, more precisely, a USian), period. And yes, I do get even more upset when people describe a brown-skinned person as "African American" when there isn't even the slightest hint that the person is from any African nation. Some of my ancestors came from Canada, but I don't call myself "Canadian American". I'm an American. No, I'm not proud of that fact (just as you Brits should not be proud of being British, given that both of our governments are pathetic, Big Brother fascists), but that's the way it is. The desire to be "politically correct" has caused much inaccuracy and stupidity.

Clarifying the timeline

Contrary to what the article suggests, PCs were "invented" in the 1970s, well before EMC was founded. Perhaps you meant "the IBM PC"?

RIP.

I'd probably have done the same, in his shoes. Median lifespan for stage 4 lung cancer after diagnosis is about 8 months.

Opiates don't always relieve pain (horrid story I heard about my friend's mother crawling naked on all fours in hospital, screaming and begging to be killed. She'd taken Paraquat for a suicide attempt, but not quite enough), and stage 4* lung cancer sounds pretty awful. At least he acheived more in life than most of us.

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lung_cancer. NOT for the squeamish.

RIP ... a real legend

Title says it all but as with Paul Simmonds above can everyone with a political agenda just fuck off somewhere else?

@Paul Simmonds

What? Man commits suicide; story posted on news site with commenting available; comentards discuss suicide. I fail to see what is wrong.

Contrary to Public Opinion .... to be Filthy Stinking Rich ....

... is a Constant Measure of One's Intellectual Inability to Conquer a Selfish Nature and make a Difference?

"He died very rich and you can't do better than that." ... By elderlybloke Posted Monday 31st August 2009 02:11 GMT ...Oh Yes you most certainly can, which must put all those other poor hoarders of global wealth firmly in the spotlight and branded as being Unfit for Future Purpose.

Hmmm? How disgraceful, elderlybloke. ....."Mr. Carnegie hammers home his message about the responsibility of millionaires to give away their fortunes: "The day is not far distant when the man who dies leaving behind him millions of available wealth, which was his to administer during life, will pass away un-wept, un-honored and un-sung . . . Of such as these the public verdict will then be: 'The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.'"" ..... Andrew Carnegie, a great giant amongst mortal men ... http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07303/829537-28.stm

A difference

"why can we put an animal out pf it's misery but not a human? "

One of the complicating factors though is that cats and dogs don’t leave wills. At least we can be fairly sure Mr Egan took his own life. Can’t say I blame him though, having watched someone close to me gasping for breath as if they had just run a marathon because of lung cancer.

And yes, there should be a more dignified way of doing this.

Off Topic but......

"forces the terminally ill to endure constant pain merely to protect the Christians' precious "sanctity of life", "

Ha Ha, it’s worse than that, here in Ireland when they announced the possibility of a vaccine for cervical cancer, the “moral right” complained that such a vaccine would promote sexual promiscuity. Our daughters may die from cervical cancer, but at least they will die good Catholics.

maybe better without the comments after all

Wasn't entirely sure about the comments to begin with, but with AC's breaking in to song, I wish the allow comments box had gone unticked.

Didn't know the guy, never dealt with his company, but was interested to read a brief obituary, and would have liked to have read more comments from people with something to say about him. Most of them detract from the article and from the memory of the man.

I will say, though, for those discussing right to die, that this seems to have been a unilateral act that didn't require the acquiesence of his family, or anyone. I don't see why people assume he would have considered a clinic an alternative. He did this himself.

A good man

*Raises a Stout in honor of a man I never knew*

I despise white collar management types since 99% are damp, limp wristed slaves to corporate culture and protocol. Mr. Egan seems to be in the 1% I wouldn't mind working for. Someone who speaks directly and to the point is a rare commodity nowadays, especially in management.

My condolences to his family.

@elderlybloke

"He died very rich and you can't do better than that."

Respectfully, I beg to differ.

OK seems a cool dood to me

And here is to his existence and presence in the mind of deity (choose your own if you wish).