10/03/2024
Our friend Russ Anderson passed away yesterday.
Russ came into our lives the way many of our friends have, as a face at our trivia night that became more and more familiar as the weeks went on. He was the exact kind of nerdy oddball that trivia attracts—smart, awkward, with a dark sense of humor, and passionate about the things he loved, in other words, our kind of people.
He was one of those quirky characters you collect in life that make it better.
He spent the day surrounded by an assortment of lifelong friends and those of us who’ve only known him these past few years—a collection of fellow random oddballs if there ever was one, which was fitting for his sendoff.
Earlier in the day we played one final round of trivia with him—Full Frontal Nudity in Non-Pornographic Films—his request. One of the last words he ever spoke to us was a reiteration of the subject, lest we get it wrong: “Full. Frontal!”
We love that he played trivia on his final day. We really love that it involved staring at a slide show of A and B-list celebrity pen*ses.
Russ loved Seattle. We’ve heard him described by friends as an “urban ambassador,” which is very accurate. He spoke about places he’d been, and food he’d eaten, with an enthusiasm that made you view them yourself with a renewed (or, just new) appreciation. He regularly posted photos on social media of the city and its people, that always ended with the line, “God, I love this city.”
We love it too, and it’s because of the people like Russ who infuse it with all their quirkiness and stories. This city feels emptier, and less interesting today with him gone.
And this little trivia community we’ve carved out lost one of its most colorful weirdos.
In honor of Russ, we hope you’ll watch something tonight that contains an obscene amount of nudity. To quote a friend, “Full. Frontal!”
Building communities...one quiz at a time.
