RIP Dan McQuade – The GOAT

I don’t know what I’d be doing if it weren’t for Dan McQuade.

I mean, I’d still be grinding away at a career in the music industry, but it’s the after-work extraneous stuff that often keeps me sane. Things like my jawnville.com blog, Philly-based podcasts (Jawnville, The Philly Blunt), and sitting alongside Anthony Gargano on his morning show on PHLY Sports. None of that would be possible without Dan McQuade.

For years, I wrote film screenplays, sitcom pilots, and pitched story ideas to cable networks. I got close a couple of times, but as is the industry, nothing came to fruition. I was a frustrated writer with no real outlet. Then, I found Dan McQuade’s writing.

Dan’s writing was accessible, brilliantly insightful, and funny. His writing voice was always like the coolest guy sitting next to you at your local coffee shop or watering hole. He wrote like my North Catholic friends, and I talked. And God, did he love Philly. I didn’t think anyone could love Philly more than I did. But, he did.

McQuade’s love of Philly came through in almost everything he wrote. His observations were on another level. Deep at its core, Philly is a quirky, weird city. We’re an easy target for mockery from our sports fans’ passion, to The Mummers, to idolizing a fictional boxer, to our infamous accent. The genius of Dan was that he covered the quirkiest of it all without judgment, without snark. In fact, he seemed to revere everything weird and wacky about Philly.

How many times have we all strolled the Wildwood Boardwalk and passed by those stores with corny, often crude, ridiculous t-shirts? It was Dan’s genius to do an annual summary of the t-shirt trends in Wildwood. Who else would write annual columns about shirts with sayings like “Cool Story Babe, Now Make Me a Sandwich,” “Pug Life” (featuring pug dogs), “I’m Not Gay, But $20 is $20? Only D-Mac!

Dan espoused how the terrible movie Mannequin was the greatest movie filmed and set in Philadelphia. By the end of his piece, it was hard to argue with him. His piece about the canoe left behind on Market Street after a Mummers Parade, suggesting it could become an iconic tourist attraction, was brilliant.

And, in 2017, when National Geographic listed Philadelphia as a top Spring trip destination along with the Great Barrier Reef, Dan reacted like every Philadelphian reacted—WHO PAID NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC OFF? That Spring trip article personifies the Philly genius of Dan McQuade. He found a way to work in a reference to The Fish Tank Guy, a random Philly store near 5th and Allegheny that buys and sells fish tanks, and connect it to the Great Barrier Reef. I wondered how long he had been trying to work The Fish Tank Guy into a story.

I can’t say I was friends with Dan. We were more acquaintances. I first met him at a Johnny Goodtimes Quizzo at O’Neal’s Pub. He was playing with the great hockey writer Sarah Baicker. Sarah wore a defunct Hartford Whalers beanie that became a topic of conversation. Our social circles intersected often, so I ended up having more than a fair share of beers with Dan. He was the nicest dude EVER. Every time!

We talked about doing a podcast episode together. He was hesitant, messaging me: “I’m not so great at talking but I’m game to try it out.” It never happened. Fuck, do I regret that now. The last time I saw him was at his exhibition of bootleg Philly sports shirts, which was charmingly eclectic, hysterical, and brilliant just as he was.

Dan McQuade was an inspiration to me to embrace my own Phillyness and share my voice. He broke down intimidating barriers like flowery prose, sentences with words I had to look up in a dictionary, and loved the fuck out of Philly. My blogs, podcasts, tweets, etc., probably don’t happen without McQuade’s writing and presence in Philly media.

There’s a group of great writers from the late aughts on. Sarah Baicker, Johnny Goodtimes, Victor Fiorillo, Joey Sweeney, The 700 Level, and countless others. Dan McQuade was the best. He’s like Philly’s Jack Kerouac. The GOAT.

In closing, I want to leave you with my all-time favorite D-Mac piece. I laugh every time I read it. Local union leader John Doughterty was under investigation Feds raided his home, office, and businesses. A photo captured Johnny Doc outside with the feds in a long-sleeve button-down shirt, khaki shorts, a 76ers hat, and loafers. We all saw the video. Only Dan McQuade would think to recreate the look of a local “celebrity” and write a piece about how to accomplish it.

Yes, without having to buy anything new, I was able to recreate the outfit Johnny Doc wore the day his house, bar, and the Local 98 union hall were raided by the FBI. And why not? We’re both lifelong Philadelphians, we both like sports, and we’re apparently both guys who think we can pull off looking like a schlep.

RIP Dan McQuade. The City of Philadelphia is far less cool and funny with you gone.