On April 25, 2026, Koshmarov passed away unexpectedly in his home in Tucson, AZ. While his obituary is available to the public, he never identified himself on Substack and I am honoring that choice. I wanted to say a few (hopelessly inadequate) words about him.

Have you ever met someone, and felt that you'd already been friends for years? I never met Koshmarov in real life, but on Substack we became partners in crime. Or a comedy duo, but we never agreed on who got to be Dean Martin instead of Jerry Lewis.

Kosh was funny as hell, and he had an encyclopedic knowledge of movies, comic books and 80s bands. But his best qualities were his open heart, his willingness to engage with anyone and his natural sense of justice. He always compared himself to Wolverine - a grim, troubled outcast. To me he was more like Captain America: someone who was utterly loyal to the best ideals of our country, and utterly revolted by the corruption of our government.

Goodbye, Vat-Brother. I miss you very much.