(no subject)
I found this and wanted to share it. It was his 20th birthday, but who's keeping count?
UA freshman John Thornton's birthday party went off without a hitch Tuesday night as other UA students and friends from as far off as Wetumpka got together in his honor.
But it was much more than a birthday party. It was a tribute to Thornton's life and a chance to remember all the good times.
Thornton died in a one-car accident on Interstate 65 Sunday afternoon, two days before his 19th birthday. His friend Nathan Wiegand, who held the party at his apartment, said the good spirits shown there were just as Thornton would have wanted.
"There was never a somber feel to it because the whole thing was a celebration of his life," said Wiegand, a graduate student in computer science.
Thornton's accident occurred around 2:40 p.m. Sunday in Autauga County. He was headed northbound on Interstate 65 when his car ran off the road, overcorrected and overturned, according to a report in The Montgomery Advertiser.
The paper reported that the Autauga County coroner said Thornton was found dead at the scene of the accident near mile marker 192.
Weigand said Thornton, who was majoring in philosophy, spent almost every day at Crimson Caf on the Strip drinking coffee and holding long conversations with friends. He was known for his unique personality, all the way down to his insistence on always dressing up, Weigand said.
"John was notorious for being really well dressed," he said. "He even went running in khaki pants."
Erick Forsyth, a recent UA graduate who was friends with Thornton, said his intellectual mindset was what motivated him in life. Forsyth said Thornton was just as well read on philosophical subjects as his professors were.
Forsyth said Thornton's death has been "devastating" to him.
"He was definitely my closest friend," Forsyth said.
For Thornton's birthday, Weigand said a few friends drove to Atlanta to buy him a bottle of his favorite scotch - McCallum 18. They were only able to get McCallum 17, he said, but it was something Thornton said he'd been interested in trying.
At the party, each of Thornton's friends took a shot from the bottle in honor of him and then smoked Lucky Strikes unfiltered cigarettes, which Weigand said was Thornton's favorite brand.
Weigand said his friend was a "damn good entertainer" and described Thornton as a "connoisseur" of many things.
"He enjoyed the finer things in life," Weigand said.
UA freshman John Thornton's birthday party went off without a hitch Tuesday night as other UA students and friends from as far off as Wetumpka got together in his honor.
But it was much more than a birthday party. It was a tribute to Thornton's life and a chance to remember all the good times.
Thornton died in a one-car accident on Interstate 65 Sunday afternoon, two days before his 19th birthday. His friend Nathan Wiegand, who held the party at his apartment, said the good spirits shown there were just as Thornton would have wanted.
"There was never a somber feel to it because the whole thing was a celebration of his life," said Wiegand, a graduate student in computer science.
Thornton's accident occurred around 2:40 p.m. Sunday in Autauga County. He was headed northbound on Interstate 65 when his car ran off the road, overcorrected and overturned, according to a report in The Montgomery Advertiser.
The paper reported that the Autauga County coroner said Thornton was found dead at the scene of the accident near mile marker 192.
Weigand said Thornton, who was majoring in philosophy, spent almost every day at Crimson Caf on the Strip drinking coffee and holding long conversations with friends. He was known for his unique personality, all the way down to his insistence on always dressing up, Weigand said.
"John was notorious for being really well dressed," he said. "He even went running in khaki pants."
Erick Forsyth, a recent UA graduate who was friends with Thornton, said his intellectual mindset was what motivated him in life. Forsyth said Thornton was just as well read on philosophical subjects as his professors were.
Forsyth said Thornton's death has been "devastating" to him.
"He was definitely my closest friend," Forsyth said.
For Thornton's birthday, Weigand said a few friends drove to Atlanta to buy him a bottle of his favorite scotch - McCallum 18. They were only able to get McCallum 17, he said, but it was something Thornton said he'd been interested in trying.
At the party, each of Thornton's friends took a shot from the bottle in honor of him and then smoked Lucky Strikes unfiltered cigarettes, which Weigand said was Thornton's favorite brand.
Weigand said his friend was a "damn good entertainer" and described Thornton as a "connoisseur" of many things.
"He enjoyed the finer things in life," Weigand said.