I knew Jake through his friend Quincy Smith several years ago when we all lived in New York. Jake and I kept in touch for a few years, after I had moved to San Francisco, but eventually fell out of touch. I had been thinking of him recently, and feel terrible to have missed out on reconnecting with him.

Even though Jake and I had relatively few interactions, he was someone who motivated and inspired me in a panoply of ways-some right away, and some over time. In terms of the ways he affected me right away, I think first of how much I enjoyed his intellectual banter, both in person and over email. I majored in philosophy in college, and I loved debating with him on random, philosophical topics. I always, however, felt that he was one step ahead of me (and I suffer from no lack of confidence! ), and this suspicion made me strive to be more rigorous in my thought and more incisive in my wit.

In terms of how he affected me over time, I have slowly come to some realizations recently that trace back to him. After many years of pursuing a corporate career path, I am slowly building up the courage to focus on writing. I thought of Jake and his writing and his recent completion of his MFA coursework. I wondered where his writing stood, because he was always someone I thought of as being capable of writing something really great. While reading or envisioning truly great writing can be daunting to a new (ish) writer like me, I nevertheless felt inspired by Jake, perhaps because he had, long before I ever seriously considered it, always encouraged me to write.

So while I am devastated to hear of his loss, I know that I will continue to think of and be inspired by Jake.