I’ve known Damien through his books for more than twenty-five years and personally for about half that time although I met him in person just once, almost ten years ago.

Damien was passionate about many things, from the San Francisco Giants to the Broadway Theatre; from liberal politics to good food. Most of all he was passionate about the movies and did something about it.

Before Inside Oscar, which he co-wrote with Columbia University classmate Mason Wiley, information on the Oscars was hard to come by. Until the mid-1960s there were no reference books on Oscar nominees and winners. Annual almanacs listed winners in the major categories, but that was it. The first books on Academy history listed just the winners in the top three categories. Eventually this changed and by the 1970s we had picture books of winners with nominees listed in the top five or six categories with winners in other categories noted.

It wasn’t until Damien and Mason’s exhaustively researched book was released in 1986 that we had something that told with living, breathing detail the Oscar story of each year from the release of the major contenders to the campaigns to the “big night” with all the juicy tidbits added for good measure. The book, which took them four years to write, was updated annually through 1988 and again in 1993 by Damien and Mason and once again in 1996 by Damien after Mason’s death. Damien later wrote Inside Oscar 2 published in 2002, covering the awards through 2000.

Wesley AKA Oscar Guy first established his message board, the Unofficial Academy Awards Discussion Board, in 1997. I discovered it in 1998. Those early discussions were lively and although many of the early participants have gone on to other things, many of the original posters remain. Some of the discussions could be pretty heated. Sometimes it took quotes from Inside Oscar to settle disputes. I was very proud of myself for being able to quote liberally from it. Then one day in late 1998 or early 1999 seemingly out of nowhere came this new poster known only as “Damien”. Could it be? His knowledge of the movies and of the Oscars was obviously deep and his wry sense of humor was keenly reminiscent of the writing in the book. Dare I ask? Will he admit who he is? Yes, and again yes.

Damien was a source of strength to those of us who came with pre-Inside Oscar memories and knowledge and an inspiration and mentor to those who came after. He was a genuine icon although he himself would probably dismiss the accolade as a bit pompous. He thought of himself just as a friend.

Damien was loyal to his friends and loyal to the directors and other industry insiders he admired. He was just as vehement in his dislike of other directors and one critic in particular. He was probably the only person in the world who still defended Mickey Rooney’s caricature of a Japanese gentleman inBreakfast at Tiffany’s. Even director Blake Edwards and Rooney himself in later years would try to distance themselves from it. His friend Bill Condon could do no wrong. Though most of us would agree to a point, I don’t think there was anyone on the board who agreed with Damien’s dogged support of the Twilight Saga. Most of us were with him, however, when Condon won his Oscar for Gods and Monsters and could feel his disappointment when he wasn’t nominated for Dreamgirls even if we didn’t feel he should have been. We were in Oscar heaven when Condon was chosen as executive producer and director for the 81st Academy Awards and hired Damien to proof-read the presentations. That was the one hosted by Hugh Jackman, which remains for many of us the high point of recent Oscar telecasts.

On the other hand, Damien did not suffer fools lightly and did not mince words when voicing his disdain for Billy Wilder’s cynicism, Sidney Lumet’s lack of mise-en-scene or Pauline Kael’s ramblings.

At 56, he’s gone way too soon, and we will miss him for a long, long time, but as the Hindus would say, he was an “old soul”. He had the wisdom of one who had lived many lives. Instead of Saint Peter, I see Bing Crosby greeting him at the pearly gates crooning “In the Land of Beginning Again” from The Bells of St. Mary’s while Leo McCarey waits to present him with a well-earned life achievement Oscar.