Today we lost a real good man, I’m still in shock over his death, like it doesn’t even seem real. The tears are going to come and I’m not sure when they’ll stop. Sweetwater was a good man, a great friend and one fantastic professor.
Professor Jeremy "Sweetwater" Mullins, The Greatest Asshole I've Ever Known.
It’s really hard to put into words what he meant to me. I never had a class with him, but he would always make time to show me how to work with my website. Infact, there probably would be no Daily Odyssey if I hadn’t been fortunate enough to meet him.
It was an absolute blast and an honor to work on SEQALAB with him as well. Many a times I would bust my ass for that show, and Sweetwater would always be there to encourage me and show his respect. The man respected me, I couldn’t really know a higher honor. When you think about it, he respected everyone in SCAD’s Sequential Art department, he didn’t pull any punches, he was honest, if you needed to be put on blast, Sweetwater would hit you hard, and you’d know he was being fair when he did.
What really depressed me about his passing is that there was so much for him to do. He was a revolutionary, he had already brought SEQALAB to SCAD, which in itself broadcasted the word of the sequential department all across the world. He was even planning to group together a convention in Savannah, to really develop a comics scene, this man really cared about comics and spreading a message.
It’s not fair to have him taken from us so soon, and I don’t think any SEQAhomie will rest easy tonight. I know personally that I’ve never experienced a death so close to me before, and I’m not even sure how to react just yet. So many loose ends to tie up, some many worries I’m not ready to face. I feel so powerless.
I apologize for the rambling nature of this post, but I just needed to get it out there. I think I’ll end this with a comic drawn by Sweetwater himself, immortalizing one of my greatest (or worst) memories of him.
I’ll miss you, Jeremy.
Power to the Pod.
I am in shock.
I worked with Jeremy for 7 years here at the newspaper and I can tell you…he was a solid friend. Your characterization of him is right on…he’d tell it like it was, and if you couldn’t take the heat, then your ass better stay the hell away from the kitchen. Jeremy was a man of many talents…not the least of which was to know when I needed a hug or a smile. I have two notes taped up in my office from Jeremy. One says “Spread the you are cool and appeciated.” [i must have been having a down day!!! J-Dogg was always there with a big hug for me!] and another is a hand drawn valentines’ day card that shows Jeremy (self-portrait…in his classic sweater vest and tie…and Kojak head!) holding a heart that says “Yay for V.D.!” Does anyone know whether he still did his two-minute historical sketches? When he worked in the marketing department, he would take 2 minutes everyday to do a sketch of a historical person…it could be anyone…then he’d post it somewhere…I cannot remember where!!! God, I am going to miss him.
I cried last night when I first heard and now I’m crying again reading this. Sweetwater was an amazing professor whom I learned so much from, as well as an all around nice guy.
Anything I write at the moment couldn’t do justice to him, but if I can say anything, he will be sorely missed and always remembered.
I think the best thing that we can do to honor him Brett is go ahead try to do those things that he wanted to do. I think it would be a shame for a comic convention not to happen here or any of the other plans that he laid out. He would want them to keep happening because he loved comics that much. Jeremy generated a lot of goodwill for our department (I wouldn’t be surprised if wasn’t a factor in hiring Brian Ralph) and generated a lot of goodwill through SEQALab. I think the best thing we can do is to keep up all of that try to follow through with the plans that he had. I don’t see any reason why there shouldn’t be a comics scene in Savannah or a convention along the lines of MOCCA or SPX. All we need are people to see it through and I think there are plenty here who can do it.
Sorry to hear about this…Hearing about it last night was a bit weird on me having only known of him through the podcast, but still it became a voice of encouragement and sage advice that I had come to rely on every Monday and Thursday, loading up Seqalab for my weekly walks. Even though I did not know him personally I could tell he was a great personality and an asset to anyone who knew him. Tragic as it is that he is gone now at so young an age, he seemed to live better than many do in a lifetime. Being a university professor at his age, teaching abroad, producing a twice-weekly show, going off on adventures, and everything in his journal are all evidence of the well-lived. Additionally, though it may be tough to listen back right now he also left some 300 hours or so of highly valuable audio to anybody working in seqa or interested in the industry, and not many people can claim that sort of legacy to a passed loved one. I’m not sure if this helps or hurt but I felt enough to say something, neither knowing him or yourself personally, which should go to show the impact he had.
Power to the pod. Honor our fallen SEQAHomie by making as many comics as you can. Never stop drawing. You can’t stop the signal!