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RIP Lyman

One thing that maybe makes this truly awful upsetting news slightly more bearable is all the wonderful stories (lots on pinside) being told about what a truly great human being Lyman was on top of the obvious pinball talent. I posted something on pinside but thought i'd share it here also. What a legend

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I would like to share a small tale also about a chance encounter a few years back..

Rewind to March 2013.. I am on one of my USA Chicago trips to work on Zidware games (Magicgirl, BHZA, Space Mission X) with John. (Turned out later to be my last one..) One day we go out to get some lunch. Eric(epthegeek) is also over for the day, helping us with code. We drive in to the parking lot and as we are pulling in, a car drives past with the window down and a 'Hi John..' shouts out across the tarmac. Its Lyman :) Myself and Eric are both in ore of the great coder. Did we really just see Lyman drive by??

We get out and go in to the place to get some food, chatting about what the chances of that was and how much we love the guy for all his great work. After we finish we come out of the building and are heading back across the parking lot to the car, when a car drives back past us again, window down and another shout across the road. "I'm Not Stalking You!!..." . Its Lyman again heading back after getting whatever he was shopping for. What are the chances??

John waves and he pulls in to the parking lot and gets out for a chat. All 4 of us then stand in the middle of the parking lot chatting about pinball, williams, stern, modern & old games etc. I must admit I did not say alot, i was in shock at what was happening and really just wanted to hug the guy and say you are the best!!!, but i just stood and listened!!! Was one of the best random events to ever happen to me.

He was talking about enjoying go back to work for Stern (i think there had been a break after spidey/batman, before ac/dc/star trek etc) and that he had only gone back on the promise for working with Steve directly on future games :)

It was a really great day :) RIP x

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Just playing on my virtual cabinet
This one’s for you Lyman
 

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myPinballs said:
I'm really struggling with this, was in bits before and now this to.... All i can think is i hope he knew how much of an inspiration and hero he was to so many :) xx
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Who knows what was going on inside his head, it’s good to talk and get rid of those demons. If only he realised the amount of love for him it might be a different story.
 
Such a sad thing to happen to such a great guy who brought joy to so many people :(

His games are pretty much all in my all time favourites list.

Mental health is such a tricky issue to deal with as a person can seem OK on the surface and can put up a very convincing front, you probably talked to a couple of people yesterday that have issues going on but you likely had no idea.
I've been through this with a couple of very close family members, one with anxiety attacks and from one who suffered from OCD (not in the throwaway jokey 'a bit particular about lining stuff' sort of OCD which is the common idea of OCD but the serious debilitating 'cannot eat anything bought at a shop or touched by anyone' ) leading to serious depression
Very important to talk to someone as a first step, there are people who will listen regardless how 'ridiculous' or 'irrational' your think your worries are and they will help, but it doesn't have to be a professional to start with - Your friends will listen having someone else aware of your problem is the first and probably the most important step to getting better

Do any of the charity high-score or coin play events at the events this year support a mental health charity? If so maybe the donation could be made in Lyman's name?
 
Doggard said:
Totally mate, it’s not difficult to be nice, yet some people can’t seem to manage it.
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Life is cruel and hard. Sad to read about Lyman, a guy I never met but seemed a good guy. Antidepressants don't work for everybody, thankfully they work for most people. Thank God for distractions like pinball, booze and the little things in life that cheer you up.

It's all too easy to dwell on the bad things in life.
 
I got diagnosed with depression and severe anxiety 8 years ago.
My wife now has life long disabilities, due to a failed suicide attempt ( she was clinically depressed )
And I’ve lost best friends and family members in the last 10 years, due to mental health issues.

It’s really close to home for me, and something I feel strongly about.

Unfortunately no one is immune from this terrible illness

Thank god, it gets more exposure nowadays, and there is more help available, but there is still a long way to go
 
Very sad news and a great loss to all his friends and family. Sadly the treatment and support for those suffering from mental health issues is often not what it should be. I sadly lost my Mum 2017 due to a combination of mistakes by the people that were supposed to be treating her. Sadly NELFT's behaviour towards us as a family and their attempts to cover up the truth were truly shocking.

Coroner slams Barkingside medical centre and NELFT

It's partly the reason I got so into Pinball as I bought my first Pinball Machine about 5 months after this happened to give me a project and something positive to focus on.
 
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Andypc said:
Very sad news and a great loss to all his friends and family. Sadly the treatment and support for those suffering from mental health issues is often not what it should be. I sadly lost my Mum 2017 due to a combination of mistakes by the people that were supposed to be treating her. Sadly NELFT's behaviour towards us as a family and their attempts to cover up the truth were truly shocking.

Coroner slams Barkingside medical centre and NELFT

It's partly the reason I got so into Pinball as I bought my first Pinball Machine about 5 months after this happened to give me project and something positive to focus on.
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So sorry to hear that
My wife also got failed by the system, we eventually got a meeting with high ranked mental health psychiatrist, which basically achieved nothing ( apart from a higher dose of anti depressants )
2 weeks later she tried to take her life, which resulted in 8 months in hospital, 5 operations and life long disabilities.

I was extremely angry and bitter about it, which in turn led to the demise of my own mental health
 
I’ve spent alot of my own time meeting people who were my heroes and making sure I told them how they affected me, I met nearly all of the moon walkers loads of other astronauts, design teams from Apollo, blackbird crews, first responders from 9/11, many icons of technology, Star Trek heroes - and I always told them clearly what impact they had and what I believed their impact was on others. Many of them bat it off but it’s important they hear the words.

when I met Lyman for the first time in the corridor of the pinball expo hotel I basically press ganged him into talking to me and signing my MM translite and as I was talking to him I told him - “you know the impact you have had on millions of people lives in the joy you bring to them in pinball” - he tried to bat it off being the modest genius he was but I grabbed his arm eyeballed him and said “seriously you have”. Mandy and @Mfresh were there with me and took the photo above. Lyman was as much a hero as Neil Armstrong was In how he changed peoples lives, whilst I am heartbroken he is gone its important that we think of the greatness and legacy he has inspired us with.
 
There’s not much I can add to the tributes above, but I just wanted to thank those of you who’ve posted of your own struggles.

It takes real bravery to admit to such problems, let alone post publicly about them. Every time you share your stories you could well be saving someone else from choosing the darker path.
 
Awful news.

I'll raise my hand up as another person who suffers with depression, anxiety and ocd traits.

With Lyman, I did fear it might be suicide but I didn't know him, just the fact he was found at home and isn't old my mind jumped to suicide. I suppose it's an indication of the world we live in when someone who's never met Lyman considers the cause of death might be suicide.
Or I'm just negative...
I've known a few people through friends or online communities that have ended their life and no-one had a clue about their struggles.

I'm sure it's not much different in the USA but the system is truly flawed and people get sent away with no decent help, seemingly endless waiting lists and it takes just one moment to end it all. I encounter these issues at work often, you often find people who choose the railway to end their life are not unknown to the system and have tried to get help but got nowhere.
I feel lucky in the fact I got fed up with GPs and trying to get somewhere that I made the move to seek private therapy to help me with various struggles. But a lot of people aren't in the position to be able to do this.

I know this sounds negative, but I believe when you're in that mindset, the fact you have people who care and love you , or appreciate your work (like many did Lyman) it almost means nothing when you're dealing with mental health issues.

The fact Lyman ended his life really hit home for me. Not that we need reminding as it happens so often, but it shows we're all human and have struggles, it's relative and it's extremely difficult to know what someone is going through 😔
 
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Doggard said:
Wow they look great, I’m on it
Did you design that ?
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No it was all put together on Pinside and I asked for a U.K. option, which is now live so thought others might be interested.
 
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Just bought one
Funnily enough I was only thinking the other day, a Lyman t shirt would be cool, and voila here they are 👍
 
Doggard said:
Just bought one
Funnily enough I was only thinking the other day, a Lyman t shirt would be cool, and voila here they are 👍
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I found it on Pinside after thinking the same thing, money is being donated in Lymans name which is a nice gesture.
 
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