Mike Fleming's father died in Hurricane Sandy

Deadline.com editor Mike Fleming returns to the site two weeks after his dad was injured at home during the storm in New York. He died at a hospital. Fleming says he's grateful for the support of his colleagues at the website. Fleming posts:

They’ll probably not like me mentioning this, but: Nikki Finke was incredibly gracious and supportive, and among other things came up with the idea of designating Long Island Cares as a place for donations, which meant much-needed food for those whose homes were flooded and rendered powerless by the storm; Jay Penske flew in, got rerouted to New Jersey and still drove all the way to my Long Island home on the night following the funeral to give my grieving mother a hug and lend support; David Lieberman drove out from Manhattan to Long Island to represent Deadline at my dad’s wake, on a night when trees were still down and it was impossible to get gas. And the whole staff kept up the quality of the film coverage while I struggled through a dark period.

What happened to my 80-year old dad was this: On Monday night at the height of Hurricane Sandy, the power went out in his house, and he chose the worst possible moment to open his storm door and see what was happening outside. A gust of wind tore open the door, and launched him off the stoop. His head hit the concrete landing in front of the stoop and he never regained consciousness. I had come to think of my dad as indestructible. This is a guy who quit drinking one day over 30 years ago, and never again touched a drop; who during his career called the shots as a superintendent in the power department of the New York City Transit Authority and knew everything about electricity; and who bounced back from double bypass surgery, prostate cancer and a stroke he didn’t even know he’d suffered until a doctor told him. Even though I had only recently threatened to remove the ladders from his home after he fell in the soft grass while waging battle with a swarm of bees that built a nest under the shingles of his roof, my dad loved his independence. He still lifted weights, had a full head of hair and was as vibrant as any 80-year old I’ve met.

But he was also taking Plavix, and that kept his blood from clotting when the tumble caused bleeding in his brain....

Nice piece from a son.