Michael Garren Tinney, MS, cherished son of Dee Dee Tinney, and guardian angel Gary Bush, and long-time partner and boyfriend to Amanda Lomanov, passed away suddenly on December 7, 2019, of unknown causes.
He is predeceased by his father, Michael Don Tinney, step-father, Webb Maddux Thompson, III, and beloved grandparents, Harlan Burton and Tommy Louise Harms, and Clayton and Lavelle Tinney.
Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on September 15, 1978, Garren lived to honor the beauty and lightness of the present moment in every aspect of his life. As a graduate of the Casady School in Oklahoma, the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Garren valued free speech, education, and above all else, using the written word as a means to communicate the many insights he garnered over 41 years as a survivor of grief and student of the human condition. Garren was a person who made friends with people from every walk of life and he is survived by more friends than can be counted.
Over the course of his short life, Garren prided himself on his multifaceted occupational pursuits. He worked in politics in Washington, D.C., entertainment in Los Angeles, journalism and public relations in Manhattan, and finally achieved his lifelong dream of becoming a writer in Pasadena, California, completing dozens of short stories, novellas, and novels. Although Garren did not accomplish his goal of setting foot on every continent, he traveled around the globe, studying in China, appreciating the art and culture of Italy and France, and backpacking through Australia, Fiji, and New Zealand.
In closing, Garren posted several quotations on a chalkboard in his home office that summarized the way he lived his life, which he yearned to share in the hopes that it inspire those closest to him:
“Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age.” - James Joyce
“Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.” - Mohammad Ali
“I hold a beast, an angel and a madman in me, and my enquiry is as to their working: and my problem is their subjugation and victory, down throw and upheaval, and my effort is their self-expression.” - Dylan Thomas
Another quote that he spoke about with Dee Dee a lot was very telling of his life’s philosophy:
“Be not the slave of your own past – plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep, and swim far, so you shall come back with new self-respect, with new power, and with an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
A Memorial Service will be held 1:00 p.m., Saturday, January 4, 2020 at All Souls’ Episcopal Chapel of St. Mary Mother of Our Lord, 6400 N Pennsylvania Ave, Oklahoma City, OK 73116.
The family requests in lieu of flowers donations may be made to the MD Anderson Hospital in Houston, TX.
