John M. O’Connor, at 103, artist, writer & humanitarian

John M. O’Connor, at 103, artist, writer & humanitarian

John Michael O’Connor, world famous artist, writer and humanitarian, died Friday at Mohawk trail state forest. He was struck by lightning and killed instantly.

Born in Malden, Massachusetts, Mr. O’Connor worked a series of meaningless jobs until he decided to attend college full time in his late 20s. He graduated from college in 2007, with degrees in computer science and art. He worked as an illustrator and a computer game designer, and founded his own successful computer game company at the age of 36. He also went on to write a series of moderately successful science-fiction novels (the Shiny Happy Future trilogy), and wrote the Oscar™-nominated screenplay for the movie Rad the Atomic Squirrel. Some of his paintings and sketches can be see in the Smithsonian, and the traveling show of his artworks is currently at the MFA in Boston. In later life, Mr. O’Connor taught art and computer programming to underprivileged youth.

A dedicated family man, Mr. O’Connor worked out of his home so he could spend as much time as possible with his family. He loved to travel, and had visited all 7 continents and had been to orbit several times.

A world renown humanitartian, Mr. O’Connor devoted much of his life to charitable causes, including strong support for public education, environmental advocacy, and the destruction of organized religion.

Mr. O’Connor is survived by his wife of 70 years, their four children, and 8 grandchildren, along with one brother and two sisters.

A private funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. tomorrow, and some of Mr. O’Connor's ashes will be scattered into orbit from space station Universe.