A Tribute to Jarrod Toombs
So cold, so icy that one burns one’s fingers on him! Every hand is startled when touching him. And for that very reason some think he glows.
– Friedrich Nietzsche
Jarrod Toombs, a friend of Emily and I just passed away. He was 25.
Jarrod introduced me to Modest Mouse and The Fiery Furnaces. I’ve always thought of him when I hear these bands. But I most often think of Jarrod when I am reading or talking about Nietzsche.
Jarrod loved all things Nietzsche. In his honor I have recreated part of an introduction to Nietzsche I previously wrote.
To be ashamed of one’s immorality-that is a step on the staircase at whose end one is also ashamed of one’s morality.
Nietzsche was a late 19th century German philosopher. His writings are basically a challenge to traditional morality and Christianity. He affirmed life and argued against waiting for life affirming realities until after death. He advocated questioning of all doctrines that drain life energies.
What destroys more quickly than to work, to think, to feel without inner necessity, without a deep personal choice, without joy? As an automaton of “duty”?
It is virtually a recipe for decadence, even for idiocy.
He can be considered one of the first existentialist philosophers. His style and radical questioning of the value and objectivity of truth, raise cause problems when attempting to interpret him. There is much scholarly speculation about his work. Nietzsche’s later writings are comprehensive and coherent expressions of his philosophy.
Even the bravest of us rarely has the courage for what he really knows.
My favorite story of Nietzsche, which Jarrod once told to me in the remote village in southwestern Georgia where he lived, was of the moment Nietzsche went insane. After distinguishing himself as a scholar and quickly becoming a professor, he spent ten years in his late thirties wandering around Europe with no real home. During his wanderings he found himself in Turin and witnessed a horse being whipped. He ran to the horse and threw his arms around the horse’s neck and collapsed. He never returned to sanity. There are many speculations about what happened; he had syphilis, he had a brain tumor, he reached a higher state of consciousness. My personal favorite is postulated by Colin Wilson in The Mind Parasites, Nietzsche was investigating his inner mind to such a degree the mind parasites feared he would learn of their existence so they drove him insane.
Incresucnt animi, virescit volnere virtus. The spirit grows, strength is restored by wounding.
Jarrod, we will miss you. R.I.P.
:: Jarrod, thanks for sitting next to me on hub day. Thanks for the talks about Nietzsche. Thanks for appreciating my art. Thanks for bonding with me over Mattafix. Thanks for keeping him company. Even though he would never admit it, I know it helped. - Emily ::
MY SON WENT TO SCHOOL WITH JARROD IN DALLAS AND I AM SO SADDENED TO HEAR OF THIS TRAGIC LOSS. I AM NOT EVEN SURE WHERE JARROD WAS LIVING BUT HE WAS A SPECIAL KID. SO CUTE AS A CHILD AND YOUNG MAN. NOT SURE WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM SO IF YOU COULD SHARE ANY INFORMATION AND WHERE I CAN READ HIS OBITUARY AND INFO ON HIS MEMORIAL I WOULD BE MOST APPRECIATIVE. GOD BLESS HIS SOUL AND HIS FAMILY AND FRIENDS.
I just finished attending his funeral i was a close friend of his here in Dallas and I miss him dearly.
He impacted all he knew. There will never be another like him.
Thanks for weaving this in with Nietzsche’s story. I’m sorry he’s gone; never met him in person but felt like I corresponded a bit with him through you Laura and appreciated what I heard about him from you.
I attended his funeral along with Jermey and was a close friend of Jarrod’s as well. Knowing him from sophomore year of high school, I think what I will miss the most are his theatrics and the culture he brought to our group of friends. He was as unique a person as there ever was and I think that is how he wanted it. Take care man, you will be remembered always.
Emily, What can you tell about Jarrod he never really discussed his experiences in the peace corps?
I barely knew Jarrod but he has stayed with me. It is sad to know. I wish I’d had more of a chance to talk with him in Georgia.
Laura or Emily, I just have to ask: Do I know either of you from PC????
Jarrod was my best friend for all 4 years of college. He recently sent me (about one week before his death) a book which he had recommended to me after some discuccion into the ‘relationship’ between God and the Devil. The book is called “Warhound and the World’s Pain” by Michael Moorcock. He said it wasn’t his favorite book but if he recommened it you should read it. Jarrod was one of the most intelligent people I ever knew. I miss him with all my heart.
[...] we wrote before, our friend Jarrod Toombs passed away in Feburary. We have a tribute to him here. Our friend John also wrote an eloquent piece about Jarrod [...]