Daily Breeze Columnist John Bogert Dies At 63

In the time I published a Daily Breeze business column (1998 - 2003), I don't recall meeting John but in recent years I enjoyed reading his column, for as he described his family and told other stories it was always with wit, and those stories were fun and easy to relate to.

At http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_21193746/longtime-daily-breeze-columnist-john-bogert-dies-cancer?IADID=Search-www.dailybreeze.com-www.dailybreeze.com is the story of his passing, but on 6/23/12, about a month ago, he wrote his final column to say goodbye to his readers and after reading his final column, on 6/24/12 I emailed the following note to him:

Dear John,

You and I have never met, but having read your deeply touching final Daily Breeze column today, I wanted to join with others who will miss you greatly. Some will express those feelings to you but vast numbers will not for they are caught up in their activities, but they will have warm feelings for you none the less.

Only in recent years did I have the pleasure of discovering your column, and through that column, I became your friend and you became mine. For in each of your columns, you shared a bit of yourself, bits of yourself we can all relate to. I felt you did some of your finest writings in recent months when you described your daughter’s wedding and the arrival of family to help celebrate that special occasion. Your humor made this series of stories special.

But when your daughter became pregnant and you were to become grandpa, you shared some of your most poignant feelings along with your humor. Once again, you made a connection with me, and with many other readers.

So as you weigh the meaning in your life, think first of your family, for there is no greater meaning than being a loving husband and father. But also consider all the other lives you uplifted through your writings for you made friend after friend, and I’m sure in some cases, you served as the only friend some of those readers had.

All of us as your readers will miss you but you will live in our hearts and we will think of you time and again, much as for so many years, you thought of us before you ever typed a single word of any story.

Your Friend,

Dick Kazan, Palos Verdes Estates
Note: On http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_20925198/john-bogert-how-do-you-wrap-it-all?IADID=Search-www.dailybreeze.com-www.dailybreeze.com, dated 6/23/12 is John's final column, "John Bogert: How do you wrap it all up?" It was this column that triggered my email piece to him shown here.