Mailbag:

Chris Epting’s column about Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan was beautiful, heartbreaking and heartwarming (“A farewell from the Rev,” Feb. 18). I thank you, as a fan, for your kind words and your dedication to Jimmy and his family, friends and fans.

The story about him watching the clock for 10 minutes made me chuckle — I could just imagine Jimmy doing that, and the image made me smile. I wish to thank his parents, too — the information about him passing peacefully in his sleep made me feel better.

The Rev is never gone, as far as us fans are concerned, and therefore his family will always be in our hearts, prayers and thoughts. I hope their memories give them the strength to move forward and make them smile when they are down.

The Rev was taken too young and too soon. But, now, he’ll foREVer be young, good looking, talented, friendly, legendary, lovable, fantastically crazy and an all-round beautiful person, for eternity. May he sleep well in Paradise.

Thank you again for the amazing column. And thanks to his family for their honesty and sharing their thoughts with us all.

Band should go on without drummer

I just wanted to let you know that I really appreciate all the amazing articles you’ve written in memory of Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan. I am a drummer myself, and The Rev was a large inspiration to my drumming techniques. I learned a lot from him, and his death was the saddest death of someone whom I’ve never personally met. While it saddens me that I never got to meet him, it’s comforting getting to read stories from their manager, the funeral and Jimmy’s parents.

Avenged Sevenfold has been a major part of my life over the last five years. I was lucky enough to see them on their last tour with Jimmy.

The first time I heard “Unholy Confessions,” I had to stop what I was doing so I could listen intently to the song — that’s how much it amazed me.

If I were to tell you all of the stories I have of Avenged Sevenfold and the many ways they have affected me, this letter would be equivalent to at least 10 pages.

But I would like to share one of the more recent stories. On New Year’s Eve, I finally brought myself to watch some songs from “Live in the LBC” with some friends. Of course, we had to watch the Rev’s masterpiece, “A Little Piece of Heaven.” By the end of the song, no one had a dry eye. This is one of the saddest tragedies in rock history, and it’s too bad that there has been very little attention drawn to it in the mainstream media.

While I know no one can ever replace Jimmy, I hope that A7X continues to move forward after they release this next album.

I, along with all of my friends, believe that if they make it through this horrible tragedy, they will be the next Metallica and get another large push and become one of the biggest names in rock history.

Murfreesboro, Tenn.