Andy was many things to me since I first met him at Industry Dive roughly a decade ago now. A boss. A colleague. A mentor. And, most importantly, a friend.

What sticks out to me most when I think about him is how much he cared about people. He could seemingly always find a silver lining to any situation. If there was a dispute, he would try to find a solution where everyone involved could come away with an upside. His tone never came off as judgmental or harsh. He was both stoic and jovial. In a world where there’s no shortage of people willing to sell false promises, he always kept his to the best of his ability, and he didn’t promise things he couldn’t deliver on.

I admired all of these traits.

When he was my managing editor, he accompanied me on a trip to the ASU+GSV conference in Salt Lake City in 2017 so he could learn more about the K-12 and Higher Education sectors.

Two things remain vivid in my memories of this trip.

1. The airline somehow managed to misplace his wheelchair during a connecting flight, and he had to wait several hours for it to arrive at the airport in Salt Lake City. He never lost his cool about it, even when the best the airline could do to make up for it was to give him a $25 meal voucher. He even joked about the whole ordeal the next day as he told me the story.

2. After the first day of the conference, we were discussing panels we had attended and conversations we’d had. His primary takeaway? “There are a lot of solutions here still looking for problems.” I’ve co-opted that line a ton of times since then.

Andy also lit up any time he had an opportunity to talk about his family. One thing that stands out in particular is how anytime I’d go to see a new movie — particularly if it was a superhero movie — he’d ask me afterwords if there was any sort of content that might be too inappropriate for various ages. It was very wholesome.

I always enjoyed getting a rise out of him by telling him that “Turbo” is the best Judas Priest album or that “Dynasty” is the best KISS album. And I appreciated that he always took time to share advice if I needed it, or to offer encouragement and feedback on side projects like my concert photography or podcast.

There will never be enough Andy Burts in this world, and I am a better person for having known him.