Condolence: I was fortunate enough to meet Andy Tang more than 20 years ago. He and our mutual friend Jim were going to a concert together and I went with the two of them and we had a blast. There would be many more shows over the years, and more laughter than three people could ever hope to share. Andy was somewhat of a quiet person by nature - very thoughtful, very kind, and remarkably intelligent, but when he loosened up, he was hysterical! Years later, when both of us were going through our respective health issues, he often offered me words of encouragement, and during the course of his own illnesses, he always remained positive...not the easiest thing to do when facing what he had to face. I will miss Andy more than words can express. He was truly one of a kind. Be at peace, dear friend.

Condolence: Andy Tang and I had a falling out about two years ago over, honestly, nothing.

I’m miserable. So sad I wasn’t able to say goodbye.

Andy was like my brother. We met at Houghton Mifflin in the 90s and struck up and immediate kinship over our love of movies. Like me, Andy would watch anything regardless of genre, but had an affinity for big dumb macho guy films like Rambo, Expendables, etc.

Later in our friendship, we started to share our love of music. He turned me on to Springsteen and Neil Young, and I turned him on to the newer bands of the 90s.

I took Andy to his first Pearl Jam show. He loved it and became an immediate fan of the band, seeking out all of their albums and bootlegs. We would see them together again about 6 times.

Andy was also in my wedding and, being the poet that he was, wrote a special piece just for my wife and I.

Andy wasn’t much into sports, with one huge exception: he LOVED the Pats! And he was a fairly quiet guy, but sit next to him either at a Pats game or watching one on TV, and he was louder than me(not easy).

Andy, I’m hoping the Pats win the Super Bowl so we can hear your cheers from above.

Either way, I will be celebrating you, your life, and our friendship today and many days/years to come.

RIP my friend.

Jim Jam