IN MEMORY
MICHAEL LEE WOOD OCTOBER 2, 1948 - SEPTEMBER 29, 1983
Obituary information provided by Michael's Sister
Michael Lee Wood was born on October 2, 1948 in Blacksburg, Virginia and died on September 29, 1983 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His sudden death at the age of 35 was due to complications from diabetes.
Michael and his family moved to Mt. Lebanon in the fall of 1956. Michael attended Julia Ward Elementary School, Andrew Mellon Junior High School, and graduated from Mt. Lebanon High School in 1966. He played trombone in the band, was active in the chess club, and sang in the choir at Sunset Hills Presbyterian Church where he was involved in various youth groups.
Michael was fascinated by public transportation systems and spent hours riding the trolley and bus routes in the greater Pittsburgh area. He never owned a car, preferring to get around by foot, bus, or bicycle.
After high school, Michael attended Michigan State University on a full scholarship, majoring in computer science, and graduated in 1970. While there, he became involved in the Michigan State Tolkien Society. After graduation, he moved to the Minnesota Twin Cities where he lived until his death. Unlike most graduates, Michael did not move to follow a career or job. Rather, he chose a part of the country where he could find like-minded fans of science fiction and fantasy. In the Twin Cities, Michael found his tribe.
Michael worked as a computer programmer at Sperry Univac Flight Systems, at NCR Comten, as a freelance programmer, and for a brief time as a taxi driver. Having a career was not that important to him, however. A paycheck was necessary to pay the bills, but his true passion was his involvement in fandom, and he did not want a regular job to interfere with his writing, publishing, and travel.
Michael was incredibly involved with the Minneapolis Science Fiction Society. He contributed to many fanzines and eventually started his own, Minneapa, in July 1972; he was the operating editor of this popular zine until his death. (APA stands for Amateur Press Association and is a compilation of short zines. Each contributor typed up their zine, usually 1-4 pages, and submitted the required number of copies/mimeographs, which were collated and stapled either by the editor or at a group event. Much of the content in Minneapa and other zines were responses to what people wrote in the last issue -- like a bunch of terribly slow email threads.)
Michael loved to travel to science fiction conventions across the United States where he met other fans, played pinball and video games, strummed his guitar, performed his original songs, and participated in intense conversations with all he met. Some of the friendships he made at these conventions lasted his lifetime, and he traveled frequently to keep us with these friends. His friends appreciated Michael’s unique personality, and even though his intensity could be off-putting at first, most saw him for his true self, a gentle honest person who was without guile.
May he rest in peace.
Charles H. Cox
The story I remember about Michael centers on some sort of state math prize for which he competed in 9th grade. The competition was pretty simple: take a test on a Saturday and the person with the highest score won. Michael took the test and when I saw him on Monday I asked him how it went? He replied that he thought he had done well; translation: he thought he had answered all the questions right. But a few days later when I saw him he was not so confident. This is where the story has the potential to get a little confusing, so in an attempt to keep track of the story, let me refer to the answer he put on the test as answer #1. Ok back to the story: he felt on reflection that answer #1 was not correct, that he now knew what the correct answer was, which I'll call answer #2, and further that he could now prove that answer #1 was in fact wrong. Of course this realization coming as it did after he took the test meant that he was resigned to the fact that he would not get a perfect score and hence ran the risk of not winning the prize. So Michael was indeed doubly surprised when the test results were announced a few weeks later: he was informed that he had won the prize and that he had gotten a perfect score - the first time in the history of the exam that anyone had gotten a perfect score! Michael suspected that the folks who had made up the answer book for the exam had made the same mistake that he had initally made with his answer #1, but that he now believed was wrong based on answer #2. So MIchael sent a letter to the examination committee, included his answer #2 - which contained his proof that answer #1 was wrong - and offered to return the prize in case another student had submitted answer #2 but had had it marked wrong in error. After reviewing the material Michael had submitted the committee agreed that Michale was right on all counts: that indeed answer #1 was wrong, that the committee had erred in marking exams with answer #1 as right and that Michalel's answer #2 was in fact the correct answer! Michael kept the prize:)
James G. McRitchie
Wow Charles, that's a great story. Thanks for sharing.
Devon Hixenbaugh (Sloan)
Oh, my gosh! That is an incredible story! I'm so glad you remembered it, and what an incredible guy Michael was to be so honest....and so darned smart!
I'm sorry he won't be with us this fall.
Richard L. Montgomery
My memory is that the test in question was the math portion of the SAT's, but I could be wrong about that. I had heard that Michael scored the first-ever perfect 800, but never had heard about his correcting the examiners or his honesty in offering to return the prize. Quite a guy, for sure, and I, too, am sorry he will not be with us in September. Thanks, Charles, for sharing your memory.
Thomas F. Remington
Thanks so much for filling in the details of Michael's life after Mt. Lebanon. I was at Howe, Mellon, and the high school with him so knew him from the earliest grades. We were in a little Cub Scout group together along with Larry Rosenberg and Reed Woodhouse in--perhaps--second grade. I have thought of Michael often. I had not heard Charlie Cox's story before but it sure captures something about him. He was a tall, awkward, shy, kind-hearted, and incredibly gifted boy. I am glad that he followed his passion. He died far too young.
Steven Hirsch
For anyone interested, Michael's sister, Patricia Wood Higgins, can be contacted at pat@higginslocation.com.
Richard W. Fidler
I remember someone noting at the time that we lost half the IQ of the class when Mike passed.
Keith Milton
Without a doubt Michael was one of the smartest people I have ever met, but I remember him not for his intellect, but for his great friendship. In some ways he was like the Sheldon Cooper character in the Big Bang series, but unlike Sheldon Cooper, Michael was never insensitive to people and relationships. He cared very much, and his gentle spirit was evident to anyone who took the time to get to know him. After we graduated and went our separate ways, we still got together from time to time to reminisce and share any new information about some of the classmates we knew, both from his class and mine. How I miss those get togethers! They kept a part of my past alive, and I think they did the same for Michael. My memory of Michael and his early passing has always stayed with me. Thoughout my life I have had occasion to mention Michael to others who never knew him. That we lost him so soon still seems to me so unfair and arbitrary. Yet looking back, I realize that he found a unique and joyous path in his years in Minneapolis, as the obituary states. In that sense the purpose of his life was fulfilled. Intellect and career were never as important to him as other things, and that attitude was part of his uniqueness and something I loved about him. As Polonius said in the tragedy of Hamlet,, "This above all, to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man."
Emily Cope (Teller)
I, like Keith Milton, was thinking of The Big Bang and Sheldon Cooper when I read Michael's obituary. Thank you, Keith, for sharing that he had "better" personal skills/sensitivity than Sheldon. I always just knew Michael as REALLY SMART in a class of many smart students. Charlie Cox, I LOVED your story - thank you so much for taking the time to share it :) LOL. (One statistic I have repeated through the years is that our class of 685 students had 85 National Merit FINALISTS! Lebo was also one of the Top 10 High Schools in the USA when we attended). I am so heartened that Michael's sister felt and conveyed that Michael chose living fully and where HE wanted to live and find his tribe over "career and paycheck"!! He was wise as well as smart! Thank you, Sue Devlin, for keeping us all so connected - in life and death - for so many years through the reunion process and website !!! We can cherish our time in Pgh when we were younger, and cherish the relationships that have grown from that time, and also the wisdom that each of us can honestly and safely share on this website now and in the future. Carpe Momentum - Life is always too short when it ends... xoxo. Emily Teller
Jane Offutt
Michael and I grew up in Sunset Hills UP Church. Looking back, I remember that he opened my eyes historical awareness. He related to me how he traveled the different trolley routes around Pittsburgh and took photos. He explained that many trolley routes would be eliminated and the tracks removed. It was my first glimpse of a world beyond my own home and school.