R.I.P. Herman Mason JR

[JohnPolka]

For those who have not already heard, Herman Mason Jr. passed away on Monday, December 17, 2018. He was 70 years old and was very active in the Adam Community since 1985. He was one of the co-founders of the Adam Special Interest Group (S.I.G.) on the Cleveland Free-net, a large free computer network that was online from 1986 through the 1990s. He remained a part of the Adam S.I.G. until the Cleveland Free-Net ceased operations in 1999. Also during this time, Herman operated The Trading Post Bulletin Board System (BBS), an EOS based BBS on his Coleco Adam. Herman, along with George Koczwara, Co-chaired Adam Con IV and VIII in the Cleveland Ohio area. Herman and George operated HLM/GMK Hardware/Software Company that sold Adam hardware and software as well. Herman's funeral is scheduled for this Saturday, December 29th, 3pm at Strowder's Funeral Home (822 E.105th ST, Cleveland Ohio 44108). His family has set up a gofundme page for those who would like to assist with funeral costs.

 

I reconnected with Herman on Facebook this past August after losing touch with him for several years. He mentioned that he was looking forward to being a part of the upcoming Adam Con 31 in Cleveland. I am so glad I managed to reconnect with him before his passing.

Edited December 27, 2018 by JohnPolka

[mozartpc27]

RIP, sorry to hear this.

[Dr. D.]

I attended Herman's funeral yesterday (Sat. 29 Dec. 2018). Here is a link to a PDF with hi-res color scans of the funeral program:

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OPmTzGGMeML1Yja7CQoWNoMi26E7sJ60/view?usp=sharing

 

This is public, so feel free to share. One of the pictures in the photo montage shows Herman and his partner in all things Coleco ADAM, George Koczwara, at ADAMcon VIII.

 

Herman Lawrence Mason, Jr., was the first person I knew in the local (Cleveland) ADAM computer community. I discovered the ADAM Sig on the old Cleveland Freenet in Fall 1990; Herman, George Koczwara, Nick Poulos, and Mark LeAir were sysops, and Herman and George each ran ADAM BBSes. At the time, I was a Ph.D. student at CWRU (which operated CFN), and had just bought a 286 laptop with 2400-baud modem to write my Ph.D. dissertation. I'd helped my Dad with his ADAM when he got it for Christmas 1984, and got it in 1988 when he junked it for a Tandy 1000-TX. On my own, I had disassembled EOS and SmartBASIC and had written a program in x86 assembler to read and copy ADAM 160K disks on an IBM-PC. I learned that there was a users group (B.A.S.I.C. = Best ADAM Support In Cleveland), and that I had valuable programming skills and hardware/software knowledge. I attended ADAMcon IV and met ADAMites from all over the USA and Canada. I have made lifelong friends; we became a family.

 

By the late 1990s, the monthly B.A.S.I.C. meetings were often held in my basement. I had to make sure there was plenty of Coca-Cola for Herman (he hated Pepsi); I kept a special 32-oz logo cup just for him. And his pizza had to have hot pepper rings and extra onions, to which he would then add salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Nobody but him could eat it I think.

 

Herman withdrew from the ADAM community for about a decade, following the sudden death of his son, for whom he had bought his first ADAM. Money was also too tight for travel to ADAMcons. Herman did eventually come back to ADAMcon 26 (in Cleveland), and we were hoping to see him again at ADAMcon 31 (again in Cleveland) in July 2019.

 

But it's not to be. We will miss you, Herman, and drink some Coke to your memory at the banquet.

 

*Dr. D.* (Chairman, ADAMcon 31)

Edited December 30, 2018 by Dr. D.

[Inky]

RIP

[JohnPolka]

Herman was also a regular caller of my BBS, The Basement, in the 80s. The link below shows his name in the top 10 callers on March 26, 1988.

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1n6UNnQ4pMBUE6ZDP_reaxoC_9SqUaZCW

As a side note, I resurrected this BBS last year. You can now telnet to it. See my signature file (or profile) for more information.

 

-JP

Edited January 1, 2019 by JohnPolka