On July 29th 2022, my dear friend Harry Jackson was tragically killed in a terrible accident. He was just 2 days shy of his 34th birthday and had a tremendously bright future ahead of him. 

Harry was truly the best of us. 

Never has there been someone so purely genuine. Harry was a true joy to be around, and that's not hyperbole! He was literally the kindest, sweetest person I have ever met, a helper who truly cared about people, with a huge sense of humor and matching smile that literally lit up a room.

Whether you'd known Harry for 10 minutes or 10 years, he would be there for you 100%, and the plethora of people whose lives he touched are all better off for having known him.

A geek through and through in the best meaning of the word, Harry loved to share his passions with his friends and the world. He loved pinball and video games, comics, costumes and cosplay, Marvel movies and characters, he hosted his own Star Trek podcast, loved the Ghostbusters and Legos, and perhaps most of all - Harry loved Back to the Future! He was a huge fan of the movie's DeLorean Time Machine car and often dressed-up for Halloween and other events as its owner "Doc Brown", the eccentric scientist from the franchise. 

Our shared love of Back To The Future is just one of the many things Harry and I had in common. He was the Doc to my Marty McFly, and I cherish the many fantastic memories I have of dressing up with him for one of our many crazy stunts ... so many fun Retro Movie Nights, kooky midnight scavenger hunts, countless shop events, and of course: our 2019 commercial shoot, which is definitely my favorite memory! Harry was so excited to have a "real" Time Machine for his Doc Brown character to drive and genuinely ecstatic to be a part of that wonderful day. We were and are so blessed to have had him as our Doc, that day and every day!

But Harry wasn't just a geek! He was also incredibly accomplished academically and professionally, but such a humble guy that many of his friends did not even know how accomplished he was!

He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Wagner at the incredibly young age of 20! After an accelerated program, he passed the bar exams for both NJ and PA just 1 day apart at the age of only 22! He was research editor for the Rutgers Law Review as well as being published there, and won Best Scholarly Paper for his work. He served on the Nanticoke Lenni Lenape Tribal council for 6 years, was made a partner at the law firm of Fox Rothschild just last year, and had just had a fairytale engagement to the love of his life - the Clara to his Doc: Jen. They were to be married next May.

Everyone I know who knew Harry is completely inconsolable right now - from casual acquaintances to close friends and family. That's a testament to how Harry Jackson made people feel. It's because he made us all feel loved and seen. It's because he used his fire to light the torches of others, and there should be more people like him in the world - not less. It's because we all know what a pure soul he was and how terrible and wrong and unfair his passing is.

I can't make this terrible tragedy make sense. I can't go back in time like Marty and undo this terrible thing! But I know I can and must to do something to honor Harry in some way!

But what?! What could I possibly do to honor this fantastic guy? I wracked my brain. Maybe throw a big geeky party for all his friends - like a Harry Jackson day, for his birthday? But his birthday was sadly just this week. That wouldn't be appropriate.

If not Harry's birthday, maybe instead it could be a big Back To The Future party in his honor later this year? And what if we had it on the fictional birthday of his favorite crazy scientist - Doc Brown?! Harry would have loved a huge Back To The Future themed Doc Brown birthday bash!!

I know Back To The Future Day is in October, but I was shocked to realize that I didn't know Doc Brown's birthdate off-hand, so I quickly googled it.

As it turns out, the character's birth month and day have never been mentioned in the canon of the movie franchise.

And then it clicked.

Doc Brown's birthday should be July 31st. Harry's birthday. To honor him, and to remember in a tiny way this fantastic person that was so tragically taken far, far too soon.

Bob Gale, Robert Zemeckis, Universal Pictures, Amblin Entertainment, BackToTheFuture.com: please make July 31st Doc Brown's official birthday in honor of our late friend Harry Jackson!

Harry - I'd like to think that on July 29th, you were just in the DeLorean when it was struck by lightning, and you only got sent back to 1885, just like Doc in the movie. You're back there, relaxing at your blacksmith's shop with a cold iced tea, waiting patiently for us to fix your Time Machine and join you, one day.

I wish I had a Time Machine, my friend. But I don't. All I have is a big dream, a big mouth, and a hope to honor you with this small gesture!

With a lot of help from the powers that be and the huge circle of geeky folks that love Harry - it would be amazing if this little piece of him could be woven into one of his favorite things for all time.

Thank you.