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June 2006
Michael Tye, my brother; was a businessman, philanthropist, friend, son, and above all a concerned citizen. He died June 2, 2003 of complications from Multiple Myeloma Cancer; he was 49.
One of the last gifts Michael left on this earth, was to help create, organize and name a charity bicycle ride where 100% of the money raised went to AIDS prevention, treatment and care. Although Michael never lived to see this dream a reality...It is!!!!!
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Through Michael’s vision; and countless concerned volunteers efforts: THE HARBOR TO THE BAY AIDS CHARITY BIKE RIDE is now a reality.
Since it's inaugural ride in 2003 the RIDE has raised over $400,000.00 donated to Fenway Community Health Services, Aids Support Group of Cape Cod and Community Research Initiative.
The 68 or 125 mile (fully supported) one day bike ride starts in Boston and finishes in Provincetown...but the ride is only the beginning...the real finish line is Michael's and all of humanities dream/vision----- a world without HIV/AIDS!
Until that time THE HARBOR TO THE BAY ride will continue to help raise funds that are earmarked 100% to help educate, treat and care for those affected by AIDS.
Thank you,
Mark Tye
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6 ft. 6 in. of pure tenderness
I first met Michael 20 years ago. He walked into the door of Club Café while we were completing construction and introduced himself to me. He told me that he and his family owned United Liquors, and that he knew a winner when he saw one, and that Club Café would be a huge success.
He offered his help in designing and printing menu's, and on every other aspect of running a liquor business, and continued to do so for the next 20 years.
Michael became my friend; I visited him in California during his wine vineyard days; he was there for me when I lost my life partner Tim to AIDS in 1986, we sometimes met for coffee at 7:30 am, and for the next twenty years Michael never said no to anything I ever asked for, nor for anything many people ever asked for.
I told Michael many years ago, that United Liquors and the Tye family would always have my complete allegiance, and I have always given it, and will continue to forever.
Michael inspired me. In the early days of Club Café when the expenses far outweighed the revenue, Michael encouraged me not to give up, and challenged me to find the cash I needed to keep moving forward, even if I had to borrow from everyone I knew. I did.
And when my business partner Joe McAllister was dying of AIDS, and I was again ready to call it quits, he asked me to dinner and once again challenged me to dig down from where my motivation came from and find the way to turn my grief and pain into success. I did.
For the past 7 years, Club Café and Team United have joined forces to ride in the Boston to NY Aids Rides. Last year Club Café was ready to pull out of the ride because of the actions of the ride producers. Michael and Tom Leavitt asked us not to, and to-do the ride one last time. We did, and raised somewhere between 80,000 and 100,000. The exact amount is not known, because as of today the Fenway has yet to see one dollar of that money.
In April of 2002 Paul Spyrka hosted a Garden Party as one of the fundraising vehicles for the Boston to New York ride, at his home in the South End. Of course, as usual Mike and United Liquors donated the beverages for the party. While on his crutches, and in lots of pain, Michael came to the party and talked with us about producing our own ride. He even named it the Harbor to Bay Aids Ride.
Well the ride is now a reality. It is being produced by people like you and I. 100% of every penny; every dollar goes directly to the beneficiaries - Fenway Community Health Center and The Aids Support Group of Cape Cod!!!
FRANK RIBAUDO
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BY CHRIS WRIGHT, Boston Phoenix Issue Date: June 13 - 19, 2003
Not too long ago, a psychic assured Michael Tye that he would live to be 70. The psychic was only about half wrong. When Michael succumbed last week to cancer, at the age of 49, he had already packed more into his life than most of us could hope to achieve in twice the time. " How did he do all that, " says his sister, Randy Tye O'Brien, " run a company and have a great social life and help people who needed help? It's phenomenal. "
Indeed, looking back on the life of Michael Tye, it's hard to believe he was just one person. As president and CEO of United Liquors, he had enormous responsibilities running the region's largest alcohol distributor - overseeing a staggering 8500 accounts - yet he still found the time to concoct fancy new cocktails, and to create a highly successful wine: Marcus James. " He was ahead of his time in understanding the great potential for future growth in the wine and spirit business, " says Michael's father, A. Raymond Tye, in a written statement. " He was always on the cutting edge of the industry he loved. "
But Michael was far more than a hotshot businessman. In 1990, he was instrumental in founding Community Servings, a meals-on-wheels service for people with AIDS. Shortly after, he was able to use his considerable persuasive skills to land Tanqueray gin as a sponsor for the Boston-to-New York AIDS Ride, at a time when " AIDS wasn't fashionable as a fundraising cause, " as Community Servings executive director David Waters puts it. " He knew how to make the system work for the causes he cared about. If Michael wanted it to happen, it happened. "
Even cancer had trouble slowing Michael down. In his final months, he worked with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, bringing comfort to toddlers stricken with the disease. And up until the very end, he continued his work as a board member of the Fenway Community Health Center - a cause that he had long held dear. " He never stopped going, " says Waters. " He was holding meetings in his hospital room, talking to people on the phone, advising people right up until he passed. "
No one who knew him would have been surprised by this. All his life, Michael was one of those people who seem driven by rocket fuel. When he wasn't out skiing, he was running Boston Marathons. When he wasn't competing in marathons, he was taking part in AIDS rides. On top of all this, he threw great shindigs. " My favorite was a Christmas party, " recalls Waters. " There were guys dressed in pink and blue tuxedoes - basically what we wore to our proms - and the whole house was filled with tinsel and Christmas trees. That's how I thought of Michael - larger than life. "
Somehow, despite his consuming career, his extensive activism, and his active social life, Michael always found time for his family. " One of the things I want people to know is what a great uncle he was, " says O'Brien, his younger sister. " He loved children. He and his partner, Mark [Kohler], were going to have a child - they looked into adopting. He would have been a great daddy. He was just really great fun, and silly. "
O'Brien has a story she likes to tell, from back in the mid 1970s, when her brother worked as a bouncer at a Kenmore Square nightclub. " One night Michael was up all night working, " she recalls. " The next day, I didn't have school, so Michael comes and says, 'Come on, we're going skiing.' He'd had no sleep, but off he went with his sister. He looked out for me. "
Michael's father, naturally, is overwhelmed by the passing of his son - too overwhelmed to talk about it. " Mike's life, " he writes, " was too short. " And yet surely there is some comfort in the fact that Michael lived such a caring, fun-filled, action-packed life. As David Waters puts it, " Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all left the kind of legacy Michael left behind? "
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