john sumpter

John Sumpter died on Sunday. As Phil E said, I am getting sick of this shit. Too many good peeps dying lately. John is the third telco guy I used to work with to die from cancer in the past two months.

John was a really great guy. Great strategic thinking, not into any form of BS whatsoever; sincere and pleasant to be around. I always appreciated how he framed the issues in terms of long term strategies when lobbying. He didn't come across as an advocate of a particular position, but rather "here's where the market is trending and here's how to ensure you as a regulator don't tilt the playing field before it gets there". Really a sort of Ghandian world view of lobbying, very passive while being quite active at the same time.

But framing John in the context of work alone doesn't do much service to what a genuinely good person he was at his core. He was well rounded and balanced in a way that was impossible not to respect. I really enjoyed the time I spent with him (in DC, at the PUC, at conferences around the states...), which isn't something you can say about many lobbyists.

my heart goes out to his family and his extended family...