Blue Skies, Howard White

[jcunniff 2]

Howard would tell me to mind my own f*cking business, but as he can't...

Our friend, Howard White, has died at home. Howard was a frequent contributor to Parachutist, his recent series on jump aircraft will be a reference text for many years to come.

Many people knew him, and he'd choose to jump with some of them. If you were among his friends, you knew where you stood, even if he hadn't been on a load with you in years.

And as he was a jumper for many years, everyone has a story... I remember the time I managed to get to the DZ before him on New Years Day, and in taking his slot, broke his "First load of the New Year" streak. I think that was 1983, but he remembered it for years. Still, he encouraged me to keep broadening my horizons, (by jumping somewhere else), and kept saying he'd make a jump with me, some other time.

Blue skies, HW. Thanks for being you.

[grimmie 186]

Blue Skies, Howard. Sorry we never made a jump together as planned.

[Douggarr 6]

This was forwarded to me in an email from Dan Poynter, probably the skydiver who knew him best. I went way back with Howie, too. He'll be missed.

Howard White began jumping at Orange Sport Parachuting Center (later Jumptown) in 1965 and soon joined the instruction staff.

A graduate of Harvard University, he attended the Monterey Language School and studied Russian while in the Service.

He served USPA as Northeast Conference director in the 70s and as editor of Parachutist magazine on an interim basis after USPA moved to Washington. He chaired the Historical Committee of the Parachute Industry Association.

He was a newspaper reporter for the Boston Globe and the Quincy Patriot Ledger. Later he did public relations work for the University of Massachusetts.

Howie was an avid SCUBA diver and active skydiver.

-30-

SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

[peek 21]

Another sad loss. I will miss him, especially at future PIA Symposiums, where he was one of the regulars that gave a lot to the sport and industry.

[Bolas 5]

Only met Howard in person once at Jumptown. He's a character.
Blue Skies Forever

[donno 0]

Howard was the most exasperating, opinionated, grouchy and caring jumper I ever knew. One minute he'd be bitching about jumpers, and then he'd make a comment that showed that he really knew and cared for a lot of us much better than he let on.

One of my favorite jumps with Howard was at Pepperell, MA where we did a 3 Cessna 12 way for Tim Cronk's 1,000th jump. Howard kept telling me that he wished there were some more people around so he wouldn't have to jump with us, and that we'd never complete the 12-way star. Despite having some problems getting all three Cessnas onto a decent formation, we made the 12-way (but not the second point, as I recall) and Howard was whooping as much as the rest of us when we landed.

Then he tried to get beer out of me, betting that I'd probably never been on a successful 3 Cessna jump before.

BSBD HW

Don Sluter

[Usetawuz 1]

So sad! Howie leaves many friends behind. I'm proud to be one of them. We'll miss him.

_________________________________________
The older I get, the better I was!

[mmm_peanuts 0]

I only knew Howard for the 7 years I have been in the sport, but he has made an immense impression on me. I will severely miss having a beer and cigar with that man.

Cheers Howard.

[DFWAJG 4]

I only know him through his Parachutist contributions and his history lessons here. Blue Skies to a man who contributed so much to our sport.

[skypuppy 1]

I'm shocked and saddened to hear this, he seemed so alive in his posts.

If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead.
Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

[slotperfect 7]

At the 2007 PIA Symposium in Reno I put out an invitation in the Bonfire for DZ.commers at the event to meet for an early breakfast at the coffee shop. Howard was the first one there. I had conversed with him numerous times in the forums prior to that and it was great to finally meet him in person. I ran into him countless times after that in Reno, at that event and the next two, in his capacity as symposium photographer. At the 2008 Barcelona event, he made a remark about his taxpayer's dollars sending me to Spain . . . I told him "mine too" which raised a smile.

His efforts as a parachuting historian were invaluable, especially on the subject of skydiving aircraft. He was a frequent contributor to the History & Trivia Forum and I was always impressed with just how consistently involved he had been in our sport for so many years.

Rest easy, Howard.

Arrive Safely

John

[ZigZagMarquis 9]

I'm sorry to hear of Howard's passing.

Blue Skies Howard, I'll miss reading your posts here.

[drjump 0]

RIP and fly free, my friend.

[sdctlc 0]

Fly Free Howard and Blue Skies

"He who Hesitates Shall Inherit the Earth!"

[TomNoonan 1]

I am very sad to hear of Howard's passing.

I used to bump into Howard randomly yet regularly over the last few years, and we always had these great conversations about skydiving history and the goings on in PIA and USPA Board Meetings.

I'm glad I got to spend time with you Howard. You were a wealth of knowledge and an enjoyable person to be around and interact with.

Fly free

Namaste,
Tom Noonan

www.everest-skydive.com

[flygirltricia 0]

Howard always made me laugh, even when he was not trying to. We have lost a vast wealth of information with his passing. You will be missed. Rest in peace and fly forever free my friend.

yesterday has passed, tomorrow is yet to come, live for today!!

[svst 0]

I've known Howard a few years Here is a typical conversation between us...


Me: good morning Howard.
Howard: Who are you?

Howard: Anyone wanna jump with me?
Me: I'll jump with you Howard!
Howard: F*#K you,
Me: Why not?
Howard: Your too good, I suck...


Me : Hi Howard
Howard: F#*K Off!

What more can I say? He was a funny bastard! Rest in peace Howard.
One less character in this sport who will be surely missed by so many.

Hymm, Hymm F#*K HIM!

Fall down....dont go boom!

[Amazon 7]

Wow I just saw this this morning

Blue Skies Howard

[BillyVance 34]

He was usually an interesting read in the History and Trivia forum. Condolences to friends and family.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[pchapman 279]

He was indeed a great contributor in History & Trivia!

Who is going to challenge us with "name that airplane" now??

[monkycndo 0]

I only met him at the last PIA convention in Reno. Had a short conversation and he was that crotchety curmudgeon. But you could see in his eyes that he was genuinely having fun playing the character. His knowledge and stories will be missed.

50 donations so far. Give it a try.

You know you want to spank it
Jump an Infinity

[robinheid 0]

Quote

He was usually an interesting read in the History and Trivia forum. Condolences to friends and family.

"And when it wasn't an interesting read, it was a fascinating read.

44

SCR-6933 / SCS-3463 / D-5533 / BASE 44 / CCS-37 / 82d Airborne (Ret.)

"The beginning of wisdom is to first call things by their right names."

[Genego 2]

His contributions will be greatly missed, it would be nice if someone could post a picture of him here.

I live with fear and terror, but sometimes I leave her and go skydiving.

[jerry9461 0]

Here is a picture of Howard taken in the late 70s at the Mansfield, MA DZ.

[f1freak 0]

RIP Howard. PIA meeting wont be the same

HAVE FUN...
...JUST DONT DIE