Christopher F. Mack
September 23, 1969 - July 21, 2016
"May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back May the sunshine warm your face, the rain fall soft upon your fields.."
Obituary of Christopher F. Mack
Christopher F. Mack passed away on July 21, 2016 in Buffalo General Hospital. Born on September 23, 1969, he was the son of the late Frederick and Shirley (Hunt) Mack.
Beloved sister of Cynthia (Eric) Holz. Dear uncle of Olivia Holz. Also survived by aunts, uncles and cousins.
There will be no prior visitation. Burial will be at the convenience of the family. Arrangements by Taylor and Reynolds Funeral Home, 70 Niagara Street, Lockport, NY. Condolences may be offered below, and flowers may be purchased through The Flower Barn.
It’s strange, I never met Christopher Mack; I knew him only as “Invid,” a smart, writerly chap sharing his opinions and personality with us on the message board of a filmmaking podcast. To us, what he looked like was a character from Robotech (due to his choice of icon) and what he sounded like was white text. I’m sure that description doesn’t match the Christopher Mack his family knew, but it’s what we had — and for what would turn out to be the last six years of his life, “Invid” was a part of our family, too. He was a longstanding and well-regarded member of a community of storytelling nerds on the internet, and he was a friend in our head, just as we were friends in his.
That isn’t really hyperbole, either; the whole point [and name] of our community is “friends in your head,” and not only was Invid an early member of the board — indeed, one who stuck around to help build it into a community in the first place — but he did more than his share of outreach on our behalf, and, in one case, on behalf of the Against Malaria Foundation. (His donation sent five long-lasting insecticided nets to Ghana, where they are currently protecting nine people Christopher never met from a death sentence; something those nets will continue to do until the year 2019.)
It was a shock to all of us when he told us about his condition, and another shock with every update. It was a shock when he passed. I can’t believe he was taken so young. If he were around to hear it, I’d make a joke about how his life has been going lately, and how it seems like he’s ‘having some problems with act two.’ I’m guessing his reply would be “aren’t we all” — and that the ‘we’ would be referring to all the storytellers, like him, who know how this thing begins and how it has to end, and work tirelessly to make some sense of the journey.
He is missed already.
Chris was a friend from the same community as Teague Chrystie. We debated and shared, and I cared when his health was declining. I’m sorry for your loss.