well, i know that there's been several scams of this type on this forum in the past (and a number of truths, unfortunately), but:
my friend and mentor carlo, a professor in pavia university who meant a lot for my personal and professional growth, died on the morning of september 11th after a five-year long struggle with returning lung cancer. on wednesday night he was taken to the hospital because he couldn't breathe properly, and by saturday morning he was gone.
he was one of the most generous, kind and courageous people i've ever met - actually i think he is at the top of my hero list alongside my father (who is fighting returning cancer himself, and i dearly hope that the slowly-fade-away-then-die routine is not going to apply to him anytime soon).
through his continuing ailments, he took the time to comment on my life, yell at me through email when he thought i needed a push (and need it i did), express affection and caring for me in many ways, and event try to sort my sentimental life out (he didn't succeed, but it wasn't his fault). in his final year, he played records i recommended to him and reported back, saying the music was easing his pain - he really loved the pogues' "hell's ditch" CD, sensefield's last record, the only album stiltskin ever released, and rancid's song "arrested in shangai". we exchanged book titles on the history of anarchism.
i last saw him on june 11th, when his alma mater organized a tribute lecture to honor his early retirement. the last thing he ever said to me, while resting on a chair in the university's portico, was "i'm sorry for neglecting you". i was flabbergasted - at the time he was going through very strong chemoterapy and hanging to life by a thread, still he cared about making time for my silly whining.
he was fifty-six. he's leaving behind his wife and his sixteen year old son.
mother of all our joys
mother of all our sorrows
intercede with him tonight
for all of our tomorrows
