Remembering Jay Michael (by Tim Klein, via CoEdit Collection)

A few days ago, CoEdit lost our friend and colleague, Jay Michael. CoEdit co-founder, Tim Klein, wrote the following on our blog and we felt it was important to share.

I met Jay in October  2012 while on assignment for Burberry. We had an instant connection. When I decided to start CoEdit with Amy, he was a huge, early supporter. Later he became a curator of two collections: FLATS Chicago: Portraits and FLATS Chicago: Escapes, and purchased a number of pieces for his showroom and office spaces. His advice and suggestions were invaluable. I often ask myself  "how would Jay Michael approach this situation." I am so happy to have met Jay. He was an amazing, creative, and inspiring person. His influence and visions will stay with me for the rest of my life. He will be deeply missed. — Tim Klein

For more images, visit our blog. 

Jay Michael's colleagues at CEDARst also posted the following: 

On Friday evening we lost our dear friend and colleague, Jay Michael. Jay was a visionary in the truest sense of the word; he only saw possibility and he was steadfast in bringing his ideas to life. Jay led by example, fighting feverishly each and every day for all of the things in this world that he wanted to improve. As the co-founder of CEDARst, he was constantly bucking real estate and design conventions, religiously following only his intuition as he developed new and better ways to live. After all, Jay wasn’t merely developing real estate, he was creating spaces that fostered community and platforms for creative spirits to thrive.

Over the last year, Jay approached his fight against lymphoma in the same way that he tackled everything else, with perseverance, humor, and more than a little chutzpah. We may have lost our Jay Michael, but Jay did not lose to cancer. As he said many times, upon his diagnosis he made a decisive choice to live. This past year was the year that he embraced living the hardest, which was the truest testament to his character, and perhaps his greatest lesson to us all. During this difficult time, his example pushed us to become better coworkers, better friends, and better people, lessons we are grateful to carry with us into this next chapter as we deeply miss having him by our sides. Jay’s vibrant personality and bravado touched the lives of everyone around him, and we vow to keep his innovative and tenacious spirit alive in his legacy, our ongoing work here at CEDARst.