Lynn,

I am sorry it has taken me this long to process your gracious absence in this world. Rest assured, I have not forgotten you, you have been with me every day, everyday. I want to begin by thanking you, thanking you for believing in me, for carrying me through my dark times, and helping me believe in the future. I wish dearly you could be here to see it for yourself, I strive to uphold what you brought into my life. You will always be my favorite teacher, the tried and true mentor that instilled the messages I will carry on for the rest of my life, to be different, in a good way. 

I just want you to know that I am making my way, I am forging my creative path because I know you would’ve been proud, I owe that to you. This world will never be the same without you, I am always going to miss our coffee’s together, our weekly zooms, and having the honor and privilege to work alongside you. I honor you. 

As I write this, I have U2 in the background, tears in my eyes, and a weight in my heart. Lynn, I will dearly miss you, so so much. When I look into the sky, the stars, and the heavens, I know you are with me, I hope to carry your spirit along my journey in life, to share your graciousness for others, to bring light into others lives, and to be the most rebel creative I can be. I’ll do my very best, to make you proud, and to become the man you believe I could be.

I will always cheers to you, to be different, in your own good way. Cheers my beloved friend, cheers.

Thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart, for everything, you will never be forgotten, your light shall always prevail. God Bless You. 

Jess and Seren,

God Bless You, God be with you both. I am so sorry, I don’t know how to put into words the feelings you must feel, and I only pray for your health, your peace, and your grace. I want you to know you all will be in my heart, you will always be a part of my life, and that the legacy will carry on, as it is painful, It is necessary. I pray for you both, may you both find the strength to pick up and see the light of the world. I love you both, and only wish the most for you, please take care, and hold strong. 

In the name of U2, I want to leave you with this message, something that has carried with me this last year, through my own struggles. 

“And if the night runs over, And the day won’t last, And if your way should falter along this stony paths, It’s just a moment, This time will Pass.” 

God Bless You All, My deepest and sincerest condolences,

-Benjamin Chang.

Two ad legends, friends and mentors gone too soon

My going-away TRG lunch that Lynn organized

Random Pod 119 outing to the new "Fresh" store in NorthPark

Lynn and I met at The Richards Group around 2007, when I moved into Pod 119, the group of cubicles where he sat. He was very welcoming and kind, and he quickly became like an older brother to me. As part of the “hazing process” of being new to the pod, Lynn insisted that I choose which famous actress would play me in the Pod 119 movie. I couldn’t think of a doppelganger, so Lynn suggested the Sun-Maid Raisin girl (“Not the old dowdy Sun Maid, but the new rebranded one!”), so from that point on, he called me Sun-Maid, and many of our inside jokes revolved in some way around dried fruit. As a side note, his chosen actor was, of course, Daniel Day-Lewis, but in referring to himself, it was always “3x Academy Award Winning Actor Daniel Day-Lewis,” or “3xaawaddl” in texts.

My husband, Eric, and I became friends with Lynn and Jess as a couple after they got married. One time, we were having dinner at their home, along with the Snells. Lynn had cooked a beautiful dinner for everyone, and when it came time to serve dessert (I believe it was poached pears?), he served me last. He could barely stifle his laughter as he set my plate down in front of me. It had raisins carefully sprinkled on top, with a miniature Sun-Maid raisin box included as part of the presentation. Nobody else at the table understood what was happening or why, but Lynn and I could not stop laughing.

Lynn and I also called each other “buddeh,” a nickname with origins I can’t recall. It just was. One day, we were having lunch and I was sharing my struggles with perfectionism—something I knew he was extremely familiar with on a personal level. And I will never forget his thoughtful advice, said with that little Lynn smile and a light-hearted tone: “Buddeh, you can be a little less hard on yourself without any perceptible loss of awesomeness.” It was simple and funny, yet deeply profound. So very Lynn. It was a light bulb moment for me, and I often think about his advice when I’m being too hard on myself. I only wish I could have reminded him of his own advice in the end.

Lynn was incredibly kind, generous, meticulous, gentle, humble, clever, talented and always funny. He would never stop arranging his place setting at a restaurant. His cube was always spotless. His home was a museum. Everything was just so. And he arranged his entire life in the same way: with intentionality and purpose. Lynn was such a positive influence in my life, and I will never stop missing him. I’m so very grateful for the many years of friendship we had and that our friendship led to a close bond between me and his wonderful Jess—and hopefully, the life-long friendship of our sons… The next generation of buddehs.

So here’s to you, 3xaawaddl. I can’t wait to see you again.

Sun-Maid

I was introduced to Lynn through my friend Jack Westerholt while living in DFW circa 2011. As it turned out, Lynn had grown up in Nashville and taken guitar lessons from Rob Jackson, the same teacher that all of my friends who were way better than me had gone to in grade school. So when my younger brother started playing the bass I made sure that he took lessons with Rob Jackson as well. Lynn and I had an immediate bond over music and knowing some of the same people in Nashville. We laughed about the guitar lessons and I recall Lynn telling a story about how Rob, the guitar teacher, had asked for some money for a lesson several years after the fact: "I just need to buy a bag of groceries man" he had told Lynn. That was the line I remember Lynn saying and we all laughed about it. I immediately knew that Lynn was a kind, sweet man and as soon as we started jamming I realized he was also a bad ass guitar player! Lynn's acoustic version of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" was simply incredible. I had never heard that song covered on acoustic guitar so well. I was really impressed and insisted on telling Lynn that he was super talented. Lynn was very humble about it all. I also recall that Lynn liked R.E.M. and could sing very well. He was creative on so many levels. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to play music with Lynn. May his creative genius and memory live on!

Our favorites

hydration bottle. you left us before i had the time to thank you.

This is my absolute favorite text from Lynn. He will be greatly missed but forever remembered!

One of my favorite wedding shots

I have taken quite a while, way too long, to write something here. Probably because I felt that maybe if I ignored it, it wouldn't be real. But in the words of Saturday morning cartoons, "Aw, Bullwinkle. That never works." (That's a line that would dependably make Lynn giggle.) So I have to face that my friend is gone. And the only way forward is to remember all the fantastic things about him and the fantastic things I learned from him. Here are a few. My coffee order is what it is because Lynn said it was the best (Americano btw). Never settle for something that isn't excellent. Take stupidly good care of your car. If you are a fan something or someone, be the biggest fan. Own the team. Be thoughtful, always. You can make yourself into the person you want to be by sheer force of will. I could go on, and in my own mind - to myself, I will for rest of my life. Thank you for everything, Lynn. My life is so much better because you are in it. And it's not just the Americanos.

I worked with Lynn at a small, in-house agency when we were both getting started in advertising. He was an excellent writer, Art Director, musician and soul. From our time at the Antenna Club marveling at Eric Johnson to watching you play at Newbys with your band, you touched so many with your smile, quick wit and talents. You will be missed indeed.

The few times I had the opportunity to work with Lynn, it was a pleasure. He was so talented and lovely.  But more than that, he always made me smile. I can still picture his face walking down the hall toward me: happy, kind, genuine - and that makes me smile even now. 

I will miss Lynn. He was kind to all. He loved the craft of advertising. He always found a way to smile

I loved every opportunity I had to work with Lynn on projects or be in the room when he was presenting, so smart, kind and creative. I was honored when he asked me to play with my band at your wedding. We're all better having known him, and I'm so sorry for your loss.

Lynn was a ferocious defender, and the Cutters were lucky to have the Dave & Lynn wall of defense. Let's not talk about penalty minutes. I just happened to  ride with Lynn on one of his first organized 100k tours, and  mixed many a TV spot with Lynn's creativity as the focus. We also shared a passion for driving well-engineered cars of Teutonic discipline. He was gentle soul, a fiery competitor, and a multifaceted enigma of a man. He and his spirit of commitment are missed.