Farewell To a Friend
Alan Randy Amasia
1957 - 2001
On the evening of Dcember 12, 2001, I recieved the news that my good friend and fellow game show nut, Randy Amasia, had passed away in his sleep earlier that day in the midst of a short-lived, but hard-fought battle with cancer. Prior to recieving news of his passing, I was reminded of the online memories I had during the 5 1/2 years I've spent online, which inspired me to write a tribute posted to GS-L and alt.tv.game-shows that still applies even now.
In June of 1996, I fulfilled a poster's request to post the Carmen Sandiego theme lyrics to ATGS. In doing so, I recieved a nice thank-you note from one Randy Amasia, who'd e-mailed the lyrics to himself...little did I know that said e-mail would be the beginning of one of my most important online friendships.
During the past 5 1/2 yrs, Randy and I exchanged a lot: advice, jokes, tape trade deals, important info, guidance, and more. In doing so, I could feel how nice it was to be an important part of his online life, and I hope he would have said the same about me. The privilege of meeting him in person at GSC8 during the summer of 1998 (during which time the photo on this page was taken by yours truly) proved that he was just as great offline: part sage, part goofball, but a nice guy and intelligent all the way.
And while Randy's passing is indeed a tragic event, the mark he left in all of our lives and on ATGS is truly an indelible one. In his time on Earth, he did e more, both GS-wise (interning on the original "Card Sharks", appearing as a contestant on "Whew!" and "Jeopardy!", and attending tapings of countless other series and pilots) and in general than many of us could ever hope to accomplish, which is to be both admired and commended.
Godspeed, my friend. You may be gone, but I think I speak for everyone in the game show arena when I say that you will NEVER be forgotten.
- Chuck Donegan, Dec. 15, 2001