Bloomington, Ill.–It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing here of Steve Finley, one of the early contributors to Satellite News, on Oct. 16. He was 68.
Steve was one of Satellite News’ earliest boosters, and was the creator of the “Daddy-O’s Drive-In Dirt” section of this site. He had always hoped to update the site, but his diminishing health prevented him from ever doing so. Still, we enjoy the section (in all its 1997-era html glory), and still occasionally refer to it.
He was also one of the founders of the “This Date in MSTory” feature here. The original database he created, listing every cast and crew member from every riffed movie, their birthdays, etc., was the foundation on which the current feature was able blossom and grow.
Steve was an avid movie buff and we would direct you to his Facebook account, where he posted, sometimes several times a week, pieces about vintage Hollywood celebrities. He also quite candidly dealt with his deteriorating health on that account.
Steve was a good friend; I will miss him.
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I did not know Steve, but I am sorrowed by his passing. Eventually most of us reach a point in our lives where the old departures begin to outnumber the new arrivals and those departures that involve lingering illness are the hardest to bear. RIP
Sorry to hear this. RIP.
My condolences.
Oh, no! Sampo, I’m so sorry to hear this, and even sorrier to hear you’ve lost a long-time friend. My condolences.
Godspeed, Steve. Thank you so much for the Drive-In Dirt section. V
I’ve spent a great deal of time being entertained there.
Never met the guy, and honestly never even heard of him before.
BUT, Daddy-O’s Drive-In Dirt is my go-to source for information on all the movies they ever riffed on. To say that it is an invaluable portion of this site is an understatement. His contributions to the MST3k fandom will forever be cherished.
RIP
Sad news indeed. My condolences to his family and friends.
Quite the astute Scot.
Riff In Peace
Very sad to hear. When I first found this site back in the 90s and had only seen a few of the episodes the Daddy-O section was my favorite part.
“This Date in History” is one of my favorite parts of the website, but I always wondered who had to do all of the laborious research to make it. Thank you, Mr Finley. R.I.P.
I am sorry for your loss on a friendship level, and our collective loss of someone of such dedication. I also personally feel a huge missed opportunity on my part since he was from my hometown and I had no idea this whole time. I loved the organization and Wit of Daddy-O’s drive-in dirt.
My condolences.
Very sad to hear this and so sorry for your loss..My condolences to his family and friends…
RIP
I never met Steve- but, he would always answer my e-mails when I commented on Daddy-O’s drive in- what a work and reference that is! Years later on Facebook we chatted- he was one of a kind. The world is a strange place and MISTIES are part of it. We’re misfits, thinkers, artists, educators, and we struggle sometimes with the big bad world. Joel started a wonderful thing and people like Steve will always be cherished and remembered. RIP.
So sorry for the loss of your friend, and my condolences to his family and other friends. He made the MST3K world better.
So sorry to hear of the loss of a MSTie who made the MSTie world a better place. My condolences to all of you, family and friends.
So sorry for your (& our) loss.
Wow. Daddy-O’s Drive-In Dirt inspired me to undertake a project that I never finished and never posted to my sight. I used his database to get a list of all Mst3k movies a certain actor was in and then went through my library and took a screen capture of one of their scenes. I was going to call it, “Hey, It’s Them!” or perhaps “Seven Degrees of Bruno Vesota” but I never finished it. I’ll get it done, Steve! RIP