Obviously, shortly after I posted that I didn't have sufficient confirmation of Dick Giordano's passing, I received it. A friend wrote to ask why the hesitation: "You knew he was in the hospital and not expected to leave. Why did it seem so impossible to you that he'd died?" Not impossible. It's just that you want to reach a certain level of sourcing on these things before you treat them as fact.
It has been my experience, over the many years I've been doing this, that when someone is known to be terminal, that's a particular time for caution. It's very easy for someone to accidentally make the jump from "Dick is in the hospital and likely to die any day now" to "Dick has died." So we err, if we err, in the direction of waiting better information. For what it's worth, since I started this blog, I've been told at least three dozen times — often by someone you'd think would know — that So-and-So had expired when So-and-So was quite alive. Someday, I will make the mistake of passing one of those on but I'm in no hurry to do so.
The comic industry is mourning Dick…and if you surf about, you may notice that they're all talking about the same guy: Friendly, courageous, willing to give New Talent a break, etc. It's expected that when someone who was that important leaves us, people will say nice things. I'm just impressed, though not surprised, that everyone who knew Dick is saying pretty much the same nice things.
Several folks have written to ask me if I have an address for condolences. I do not but will attempt to come up with one. I will also add that Dick was on the Board of Directors of The Hero Initiative, a charity that aids comic book creators who are in need. If you're the kind of person who likes to send flowers or something of the sort, I would think a donation there would be utterly appropriate.