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01/18/2012 11:00 PMConnecticut has lost one of its most beloved residents with the passing of Dr. Mel Goldstein on Wednesday morning, Jan. 18. He was 66.
Dr. Mel became a household name throughout Connecticut as WTNH's Storm Team 8 chief meteorologist. Dr. Mel also provided weather reports on WQUN in Hamden for over 13 years, penned a highly popular weather column for the Hartford Courant for 20 years, and published his first book, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Weather, in 1999.
Last October, Dr. Mel reluctantly retired from News 8 as he became more limited physically due to the end stages of the blood/bone marrow cancer—clinically referred to as multiple myeloma (MML)—which he bravely battled for the past 16 years.
When Dr. Mel was first officially diagnosed with MML at age 50, doctors admitted that there was little they could offer in the way of treatment. He was told he had, at best, another 33 months to live.
In Dr. Mel's signature style this news was not taken lightly. Instead of wallowing in woe, Dr. Mel set about on a research mission that would hasten cutting edge research into MML treatment, fast-track the FDA approval of at least two pharmaceuticals for the treatment of this rare blood cancer and Dr. Mel even submitted himself to trial testing some of these potentially life-extending treatments.
Extend they did, and for years Dr. Mel proudly wore a T-shirt given to him by family with a large number "33" emblazoned on the front, to denote that he'd not only beaten his 33 month prognosis, but done so with great vitality and hope.
In time, Dr. Mel established his own foundation to raise money for MML research and his champion efforts to win FDA approvals prolonged with lives of other MML sufferers as well, including this writer's mother, Georgette "Georgie" Marchi, who had become friends with Dr. Mel because of their shared battle against MML.
When Dr. Mel saw the publication of Dr. Mel's Connecticut Climate Book in 2009 by Wesleyan University Press, he donated his own royalties to the Dr. Mel Multiple Myeloma Foundation. He was working on a book of interviews with MML survivors and their families when he passed.
Dr. Mel will be missed, and not just by those who loved and knew him personally, but by those legions of fan whose lives he touched with his predictions of Connecticut weather and his fight to educate others suffering from blood cancer.
As much Dr. Mel always showed an unflagging spirit and a titanic love for life, family, and friends, he knew this day was coming as the MML weakened his body over time. He spoke about balancing optimism and realistic expectations during his Person of the Week interview in 2009.
"Like the weather, I plan only eight days ahead."
Life lessons from a weather forecast—Dr. Mel could've predicted it.
To read Dr. Mel's Person of the Week profile, visit www.theday.com/article/20090813/NWS10/308139943.