Mr. Matt J. Duffy

Matt J. Duffy, a journalist, gifted educator and enthusiast of life, died on Wednesday, January 17 at his Roswell home. He was a joy, sharing infectious love, warmth, and friendship with his beloved family and many students and colleagues, whose good fortune in life was to cross his path. Surrounded by his wife, Ann, son, Jake, and daughter, Lydia, Matt left this world more than four years after his diagnosis of Stage IV lung cancer. He was born Sept. 4, 1971, in Richmond, Virginia. He grew up in Pinetown, North Carolina. He graduated with a bachelor degree from East Carolina University, later studying for a master’s degree from the University of Georgia and a doctorate in public communication at Georgia State University in 2010. In June, 2013, he was diagnosed with cancer. Through treatments and drug trials, he broke ground for longevity. He checked off boxes from his to-do list when the small window for survival opened to become years: celebrating his daughter's high school graduation; coastal Maine summers spent on the Shackleton, the motorboat built by his hands in his garage; a recent trip to the betting tables of Las Vegas and other adventures. The cancer was the least interesting part of him. His embrace of life and cheeky attitude drew people to him. He was gifted in dreaming big, seeing potential in people they didn’t see themselves, and served as a loyal companion to people working the 12-step program. Cultures and the way everyday people lived in different lands fascinated Matt. During a break in teaching at Zayed University, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, while others booked travels to Europe, he made his way to Bangladesh, a developing country not on many tourist itineraries, where he played locals in a game of badminton and drank tea with new friends. His journalism career included stops in newsrooms in Mississippi, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Georgia. He was an activist academic, examining press freedoms in the Middle East. He relished the task of turning students into journalists at Georgia Perimeter College, Georgia State University, and Berry College, before accepting a position as an assistant professor of communication at Kennesaw State University. Survivors include his mother and step father, Susan and Mike Messick; brother Greg, and his wife Nicole, Jones; step-sister Terese Messick; and many nieces, nephews and extended family. Family, friends, and others whose lives Matt touched are invited to Unity North Atlanta Church, 4255 Sandy Plains Road, Marietta, from 4 p.m.- 6 p.m. on Sunday for Receiving of Friends and Monday, January 22 at 4 p.m. for a Celebration of Life. In lieu of flowers, please donate in his memory to the cause of your choice or to The Human Kindness Foundation, http://humankindness.org/honor-memory/.

Mr. Matt J. Duffy

September 4, 1971 - January 17, 2018