R.I.P. Dan McQuade

The journalist Dan McQuade has passed.

This announcement hints at his curiosity and interests, one of which I was fortunate enough to witness firsthand in January of 2024, when he held an exhibit of all the Philly sports bootleg shirts he’d collected/curated. Many richly detailed with insights and context provided by Dan.

McQuade’s event was the kind of thing where you walk in and are immediately disarmed by the contents and also the community.

Total freaks who eat this stuff up, just like you. Drinking canned beer. Taking it all in.

Warm, welcoming, absolute lunacy. A rarity.

The night seemed less a look backwards than a reason for likeminded humans to congregate in person, right now. In the moment.

Dan’s writing was smart, funny, and engaging.

Exactly how he was when I met him that night. Here’s an interview with Dan, and a lot of the shirts. Scroll to the bottom and read his Artist’s Statement to get a glimpse of how his mind worked.

His best stories at Defector will appear on their homepage in the coming days.

Much love to his family and the Defector crew.