In Honor of a Fallen Lord
March 2nd marked the passing of a founding member of our community. A pillar of strength, morality, and character in a word desperately in need of all three. Kevin Wain spent the last year of his life kicking cancer’s ass. This week, he was set free from pain. This week, his sword was put down one last time. Here are some words from a few of us current and former members of staff.
From Joshua Reding, the Editor-in-Chief
Though I only knew Kevin Wain, or Dizzy as we knew him most commonly, two short years, his passion left a mark on me. I came to Lords of Gaming with the original crop of writers. Back when none of us knew what we were doing. When it was Dizzy’s dream to run a website that stood alongside the titans of the industry after helping to build the Iron Lords community. Dizzy loved the website. He loved writing, and he loved the people that put the work in here day in and day out to make this place something you visit.
I would be lying if I said we got along at the beginning, because we didn’t. In fact, barely two months in, I told him I was going to quit if the editorial staff didn’t start getting harder on the writers. He was a people person. He recognized that the strength of the community that he was building here was not that all the writers sounded identically professionally the same. No, it was that each person had a voice. It was that voice that needed to be amplified. That voice that needed to be sharpened, not dulled.
In August of 2019, just six months after launch, I took over as interim Editor-in-Chief, and I have held that position through today. Dizzy was undergoing chemo for cancer then, but it never stopped him from being involved. He’d come to our monthly writer’s meetings and he had a quiet power to him. When he talked, he was always worth listening to. You could always hear his son in the background. Man, he loved his family. I had my first child a year ago, and my biggest regret is not asking him for more advice on how to raise him right. It is the deepest of injustices that Parker has to grow up with his Father as a memory and that Rosie has to raise him without the love of her life at her side. It’s not fair that with the vaccine permeating through communities as we speak that we still have to lose those closest to us.
Though he has departed us, he will never be gone. He will always have a seat at the roundtable. He will always be the Lord of Gaming. Our thoughts and prayers go out especially to Parker and to Rosie that they can find some comfort in the stellar man Kevin was, and how many lives he touched all across the world. This website is just one aspect of your immense legacy. We will be good stewards of it. Godspeed.
From Gretchen Stamile, Former Lords of Gaming Writer
From Bryan Stamile, Former Lords of Gaming Writer
Kevin has been a pillar in our community, a paragon of strength, and a mentor for those of us at LOGNET. We’re all going to miss you brother.
From Mahmood Ghaffar, Lords of Gaming Assistant Editor
Words cannot begin to express how much Kevin Wain, aka Dizzy, will be missed. The man was a fighter and always looked at the sunny side of this world. He never let any challenge or obstacle dampen his spirit.
Dizzy was a family man and gamer. He knew that family always comes first, but it didn’t detract from his passion of video games. He knew deeply of the joy that they brought to this world and wanted to express his love of this hobby that brings us all together from all different walks of life.
He loved survival games and would champion certain titles with such passion. That passion came from his wife and son that he will, unfortunately, leave behind. But his memory will burn deep with all those who were fortunate enough to spend time with him.
I didn’t know what I was getting myself into when I first applied to LOGNET. I didn’t know how the people associated with it were essentially a family from all over the world. Dizzy was a part of that family. He was always supportive and welcoming and helped out, even when times got tough. Dizzy was one of the first to welcome and embrace me when I joined LOGNET and continued to champion ever contributor.
I had to take a break from writing and editing on the site for a bit. But not a day went by where I didn’t think of LOGNET. In fact, I recently joined again because of its close-knit community. Dizzy will forever remain a vital part of LOGNET. I will miss you Dizzy and I will always raise my shield for you brother.
From Daniel May, Lords of Gaming Assistant Editor
Having someone vocally rooting for you can make a world of difference. I remember finding the Twitter posting for Lords of Gaming in early 2019, right around when I started blog writing. Good timing, I thought. I sent in a link to my first blog post and heard back by that Saturday. Kevin Alexander, or as everyone would know him by, Dizzy, asked about joining a Discord call for preparing the site the following Saturday.
I remember later on, as I started writing about the Overwatch League, I got another message from Dizzy. This one went through Discord: “Any chance of a week 2 update of the Overwatch League?… We’d like to make it a featured point of coming to the site.” That message defined Dizzy for me: someone who genuinely believed in my skills. I felt like a preschooler’s show-and-tell toy when he mentioned being a featured point. I struggled a lot with self-esteem since finishing college up to that point and still kind of do. But having people who routinely hyped up my work like Dizzy helps me fight that.
To say we’re going to miss him is an understatement. Losing someone who routinely hyped up my work and others hurts, even if other great hype people remain. Our hearts are with his family at this time.
If you would like to view his tribute, it can be found here. If you would like to donate to his family, you can do so here. We thank you for any donations made.
