We haven’t lost the SRF founder; we lost a friend and a very good human being.

Michael Joseph LaRosa
March 10, 1957 – March 15, 2023

It’s incredible how close you can be with someone whom you never met in person, but Mike was of that kind of people, those you feel close to even at distance, those you share all kind of thoughts with, no matter if serious or funny.

One day, he read a post of mine in the HRP forum, where I improvised a race recap. “Hey, I like the way you write, and I have an idea I am working on”. That was in March 2005, 18 years ago.
The idea was the SRF; this is how it started for me.

Since then, we have been working together but also got to know each other, even if the thing we kept saying to each other “one day, be it in Louisiana or Florida, we have to meet” never happened.

He called me “paisano” because of his Italian origin and often we talked about Italy, my hometown in the North, his family’s background from Southern Italy, food, wine and of course plans for what was the early SRF.

Mike was passionate about meteorology – he liked to draw charts and maps – and of course horse racing.
He had a bright mind, he could work with numbers like nobody I have known; I remember when he tried to explain to me how his SRF numbers where created, it took me forever to understand what he was doing.

Mike was my boss, but quickly became a friend to share ideas with or to talk about life, about plans, worries and hopes. He could write long emails and touch on so many different things, it was always a moment of relax to read him and then write back and discuss.

Even at distance, he’s always been someone close to me, a kind, intelligent and thoughtful friend that after a while it feels you have known for all your life.

We hadn’t talked since the beginning of March but sometimes it happened, life is demanding, time is a precious commodity, especially free time. He mentioned he might need another check-up, and that “we’ll talk”.

Yes, we will, in another dimension and I just can’t believe it actually happened.

The biggest thought and sentiment goes to his family, to those who felt the pain in a much more extreme way. I can only imagine the void he left there considering how this feels as a friend.

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit”.

Ciao Paisano!
Your friend Mauro

Categories: EDITORIAL