David Waldon was set to become this site's Managing Editor when he passed away suddenly in early February. The following is a snapshot of his life as I knew him.

David Waldon was a force bigger than life and simply recounting a single memory won’t do, so I am going to share some of my favorite moments with Dave.

I first met Dave in the Summer of 2000 at the FOX TCA party. At the time I was working as a publicist (as Dave would call it, the Dark Side) for a kid on Malcolm in the Middle. Trying to get interviews for a 12 year old is tough and as I looked around, I spied a guy in a booth wearing a Cubs hat. It was kismet as I too am a Cubs fan. I am also a Yankees fan, a fact Dave let slide.

Long story short, Dave threw me a bone and spent a few minutes with my client and he and I started talking Cubs baseball. The rest, as they say, is history.

Dave helped me navigate my first press tour in my post entertainment publicist career. He explained to me the way things worked and how to handle tough situations. And he was overjoyed when I’d “returned to the fold” as a journalist instead of ‘PR flack’ for some celebrity.

Throughout the years Dave was a constant in my life and in the year 2005 Dave and I became even more connected; I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and I had brain surgery at UCLA both occurred in a span of about 6 weeks. It was a busy summer to say the least and Dave was always on the list of people to be notified after surgery, etc. And he was there the night I had my going away dinner as I moved permanently back to Tennessee. And he was there to answer my calls on the various nights over the last three years when I’ve had to call him frustrated with living back in a red state, and offering encouragement when things have looked bleak. And to make the pilgrimage to iHop with on subsequent trips to LA.

Dave was one of two people I called from Chicago in September 2007 to share my first trip to Wrigley with. It was Dave I called from Atlanta in 2003 as I watched the Cubs lose to the Braves, but celebrated getting a foul ball tossed to me by Mike Remlinger. And it was Dave I shared the resigned phone call with year after year as the Cubs last chance to win or even go to the Series came to a brutal end.

He and I became even closer as we discussed how our respective health issues had shaped us. Going into a coma and having a liver transplant and having a brain surgery less than 300 people have ever had are things most people never experience. But in Dave I found someone who could relate and we leaned on each other. And he never once failed to ask me how my health was and I’d return the favor. And we fussed over and at each other about health issues. We even had a good natured debate running about which trumped the other; brain surgery or live transplant.

We also debated a lot of other things, always respectfully and with understanding. Of particular note was the past election. I was a die-hard Hillary supporter and Dave was an Obama man. I called him the day of the roll call during the DNC and I was in tears. So was Dave. He assumed I was crying because of the historic moment and I vehemently corrected him by saying that while his dream of seeing an African-American president being nominated was coming true, my dream of seeing a woman nominated was slipping away.

Just as I understood why this was important to him, he understood why Hillary was important to me. And he let me vent about it and listened while I railed about the fact that yet another penis would be in the White House. And in the end we shared a phone call on the night of Nov. 4, 2008 of high celebration and once again tears as our candidate had been elected.

David Waldon was not just a good man, he was a great man. A rare man among a sea of chumps. And that rare friend that always, always had the best of intentions toward you.

Dave and I spoke on every holiday. I often told myself that I was calling him like I call all my friends far away from home on the holidays to make sure they knew they were loved, but in reality, I got just as much from those calls as Dave did. Probably more.

It is hard to contemplate a world without David Waldon; in fact I don’t really want to. Knowing I will never again banter with him, that I will never again hear him say: “You know Melissa, one day I’m going to find somebody and then you’ll have missed out on all the opportunities I’ve given you!” And knowing that never again will I get to good naturedly tell him: “David, you are the geekiest, whitest black man I know!” I am still unable to wrap my head around it and frankly I don’t want to.

There will never be another press tour, awards season, fall TV schedule or baseball season that is the same. Never again will I call Dave on Oscar Sunday and hear “Oscar Central.”

And should the Cubs finally win a World Series, it will be bittersweet, though I am sure the sky will be filled with thunder as Dave will have all of Heaven jumping up and down.

The world was better for having had David Waldon for a mere 38 years than never having had him at all. And the world is diminished because it will not have David Waldon for another day.

I love you David. Godspeed.

By Missy Lee

Missy Lee is the publisher, editor and chief reporter for ILoveTelevision.com. Prior to starting ILoveTelevision.com she worked for TV-Now.com and the late Tony Bray. After living in LA and covering all things entertainmentfor a number of years, she moved back to her home state of Tennessee.

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