An interesting night tonight. I’ll actually be kicking off at McGillin’s at 6 p.m. We’re doing a fundraiser for the Dave Nee Foundation. The purpose of the foundation is to take away the stigma associated with depression and encourage those battling with depression to seek help. This is a great program I’m happy to be a part of. And with my buddy (well, pretty much everybody’s buddy) Anthony Riley succumbing to depression this past week, this cause really hits home. If you are available to play tonight and want to contribute to a great cause (there’s a large trophy for the winners), or just want to donate, you can click here.
Dave was a brilliant guy- a great poker player and a lover of trivia. He graduated from Loomis Chafee and Princeton before attending Fordham Law School. Dave would read anything and did read almost everything. His favorites included Plainsong by Kent Haruf, For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, and Graham Greene’s work. Between the History Channel and Dave’s various books on war and presidents, he was a walking encyclopedia: impossibly comprehensive and impressively impenetrable. He analyzed everything from the makings of a perfect sandwich to the semantics of a well-told joke to Civil War generals’ psyches. Dave craved long debates and marathon sessions of philosophical exchange. He listened to Johnny Cash religiously and also loved Taj Mahal, Hank Williams, and the soundtracks from Quentin Tarantino movies.
All proceeds from the trivia night benefit the Dave Nee Foundation. The friends and family of Dave Nee established The Dave Nee Foundation in 2006 in the aftermath of his death by suicide. A charismatic and brilliant law student, Dave Nee did not share his struggles with depression. The foundation was established to reduce the stigma of mental illness and encourage those struggling to get help, while encouraging friends and family on how to be proactive and supportive. Our mission is to eliminate the stigma associated with depression and suicide by promoting and encouraging not only the diagnosis and treatment of depression among young adults, but also the education of young people, their families, and friends about the disease of depression.