Lawr Michaels: The Man and His Brand

Over the last two days, many of us were informed that our friend, colleague and the leader of this site, Lawr Michaels, would soon succumb to his health struggles. Yet words uttered long ago by another friend, Jason Grey, continued to ring in my ears, supporting me as I resisted against all reason what was inevitable.

“Lawr, you cannot be stopped by conventional weapons,” Jason would say. Lawr often repeated these words over the years, reflecting a quiet pride in his decades of fighting Crohn’s Disease and the many, many complications that followed. However, Lawr passed peacefully on Wednesday morning, Dec. 19.

In our last exchange, late last week, I provided Lawr with graphics for the site rebranding he planned to implement on Jan. 1. Creativesports.com was to be renamed “LawrMichaels.com.”

It seemed the right thing to do for Lawr to “leverage his brand” in this manner. Known as “The Zen Master” for his unorthodox success in high-level fantasy baseball competition, Lawr was a major figure in the industry, writing about and analyzing the game for a quarter century. He began Creativesports in 1996, and I joined the band a few years later.

Lawr as a brand has so many elements, which together make up a portfolio every much as diversified as Berkshire Hathaway.

From the pure corporate perspective, he experienced many successes running large projects in his years with Kaiser and AT&T. Among his many other benefits from time in the business world before retiring was meeting the woman who would later become his wonderful wife, Diane.

Lawr had many loves, one of which was music. He did not just know music in and out — which he demonstrated in the Rock Remnants website he founded with a number of our friends — he was an active participant, as well. We all understood that the week of Band Camp in the summer meant all discussions about fantasy sports and the website would be stopped as Lawr headed off to jam with his mates. His love of playing the guitar led to the creation of some very enjoyable music, several discs of which are in regular play in our household. We also knew that Thursday night band practice was another sacred event in Lawr’s weekly routine.

Literature was an early and longstanding love of Lawr’s, as he secured his degree in English Literature and, of course, was highly conversant in the subject — not that I felt qualified to engage. But, again, he did not just observe, he jumped in, with his most recent work a novel using golf as a background against which to relate some of his many life experiences.

Speaking of golf, it serves as yet another facet of the Lawr Michaels brand. Golfing became a passion in his later years, a game at which he became quite proficient. Several years ago, he made the decision to diversify Creativesports to cover a variety of fantasy sports beyond its core of baseball, with some football sprinkled in. Lawr was energized and proud as he recruited a young corps of writers to cover soccer, basketball, hockey and, of course, golf.

Another diversification of the Lawr portfolio was podcasting. Not satisfied with getting his message out via the written word, Lawr developed and co-hosted the Tout Wars Hour on the Fantasy Sports Network and participated in countless industry-related audio and video vehicles, sharing both his in-depth knowledge and considerable wit. This long-form of entertainment enabled Lawr to not only riff, but to go off into long jams on whatever topic interested him. It may have frustrated hosts at times, but it captivated his devoted listeners.

But all this talk of branding is not to equate Lawr Michaels with some cold, faceless corporate entity. In fact, he was just the opposite. With no exaggeration, he was as warm and caring of an individual as I have ever met. He remembered every person’s spouse and their kids’ (and grandkids’) names and would ask how they are doing in context — even if the last conversation on the matter was six months earlier.

Lawr was the single most positive person I have encountered in my entire life — and was totally genuine. I think that is one reason why we made such a quick and long-lasting friendship. Lawr had a way of melting my inherent cynicism while I grounded some of his less-practical ideas.

The most amazing thing about it is that Lawr had plenty of reasons to be bitter. His early years left scars both mentally and physically over the countless surgeries required to manage his Crohn’s Disease. He lost both his long-standing companion Cathy and his son Joey much too early, incurring tremendous pain. Yet, when Lawr learned of a friend or the wife of a friend battling cancer, he presented them one of Cathy’s scarves to help give them strength. He did this for individuals as diverse as the wife of a former Major League Baseball manager and the spouse of a close personal friend of both of ours – and those were just ones I witnessed.

Here is just one further example of Lawr’s sensitivity, which endeared him to so many. I was greatly honored when he confided in me his plan to ask Diane to marry him that evening during a horse-drawn carriage ride in Central Park, following a dinner at Tavern on the Green. Lawr worked out every detail to ensure it would be a memory they both would remember forever. (Of course, it was, and she said “Yes!”)

Countless times over the years, as we discussed the merits of candidates we were considering adding to the writing staff, I would gravitate to a clinical analysis of each person’s portfolio. Lawr’s focus was elsewhere – pondering their potential and how he might help them – as much or more than how they could help him. He gave many young writers their start in the business, with a particular interest in encouraging aspiring female sportswriters. In his choices, Lawr was almost always right and many benefited from his mentoring.

There have been so many times in my life I have drawn upon Lawr’s strength to help guide me through tough stretches that I cannot even remember them all. One of our shared favorite events twice a year was to sit together in the ballpark, away from the others in our group, and spend three hours just catching up on the minute details of each other’s lives, only partially paying attention to the action on the field. Lawr always made me feel more special than I really am. Those are times I will miss so dearly.

A central tenet of the Lawr brand was his never-ending plans for the future. Despite all of his personal and professional success, he always had further hopes and dreams — in seemingly every aspect of a diverse, exciting and enriching life.

This November, Lawr’s declining health precluded him from traveling to our annual fantasy baseball conference in Phoenix. While at a red light in traffic there, I spied a car in another lane that sported a license plate which said, “LAWRUP.” I clumsily leaned out my rental car window to take a photo, which I texted him back home. To me, it meant that Lawr was always “up,” and I knew he was, even as he battled his last failing kidney rather than join the friends he valued so dearly.

Now, I interpret the message to mean that Lawr is up above us. During his time here on Earth, I would hazard a guess to say that there is not a single person he encountered whose life was not enriched from knowing him.

Lawr, you will be missed by so many, and we have all benefited so much from the brand of life you embodied and spread so generously and unconditionally.