Saturday, March 07, 2009

So...Hans

My friend Hans Rueffert is a hell of a guy. I met him many years ago at Dr. NO's, where he was another comic and gaming geek that came into the store with a big personality and a big heart to match. He later went on to publish some games in conjunction with Clive Barker, whom he remains friends with to this day. From there, he joined his family business as the Woodbridge Inn in Jasper, GA as a chef. That catapulted him to appear on the first season of Food Network's Next Food Network Star, where he fell just shy of winning the whole thing. Only days after that ended, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. After a long and courageous battle, he beat it. He came back to Georgia, and started up his own cooking show on PBS, Hans Cooks the World. He recently published his first cookbook--which I highly recommend.

This past week, the cancer came back. It reappeared this time as tumors in his brain. He flew out to Houston for treatment at the cancer center there yesterday. Today, I sit and worry about his health and well being. I know that he is strong, and I know that he has the courage to beat this, but I can't help but sit and wonder what he is going through.

If you can, take a moment and click on the link to the right that says "Hans Blog", and read a little about my friend. And if you have the room, send some good thoughts his way. Every little bit helps.