Devotion lives on long after show’s wrap

If the legend of "Lost" is to continue, it will be through the labor of "Lost"lovers whose affection for the show became not just a passion, but a life-changing obsession.

For them, Monday’s 10th anniversary of the series premiere will be a response to the famous line from the show, "We have to go back!" — back in time, to 2004, and for many, back to the island where the show was shot.

"Losties" are here from all over the world for Lost2014, a three-day fan gathering that started Saturday. They are visiting filming sites, partying in Waikiki, even raising money for a cause, said Kelley Rodill, the North Carolina woman who organized the event.

She initially expected to get maybe 25 attendees, but as of last week 270 people from 15 countries and the mainland had signed up.

Rodill, 37, was living in Maryland when "Lost"first aired. She recalled hearing co-workers talk about it.

"They’d come in and say, ‘There’s a polar bear on this island, and there’s something rustling around in the leaves and the trees and no one knows what it is,’ and there was all this mystery that everyone was fascinated over."

She said she got "hooked" on the show after the "Walkabout"episode that revealed character John Locke’s back story as a paraplegic. More than four years after the series finale, "Lost" still has a magnetic attraction to her.

"I love watching the show," Rodill said. "Every time you watch an episode, you see something new."

Rodill said she stayed away from online fan sites in the beginning to avoid plot spoilers but wanted to make up for her lack of connection with other Losties by organizing the anniversary celebration.

Visiting Losties might experience a flashback if they run into Matt Morici, a local tour guide who has taken fans to "Lost" sites. He was such a big fan that he would watch the show when it aired, download the episode and "watch it every day until the next show came out."

Morici was in California planning to attend college when "Lost"first aired, igniting his desire to live on an island. He made his way to the University of Hawaii and got a job with KOS Tours, where he still works part time.

"It’s so odd to think about it, but I’ve built a life out here and it’s all because of ‘Lost,’" said Morici, 30.

LOCALFANS Steve and Emily Petrash wear their devotion to "Lost" on their sleeves — and under them as well.

Steve Petrash is known as the "’Lost’ tattoo guy" and has gotten inked at least 15 times. Among his many tattoos are the Dharma Initiative logo, the sinister character Ben Linus on his back, and "the numbers" (4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42) and the corresponding character names on his forearms. He started getting tattooed in Season 5.

"I’d talk about it with friends, family, about how much I loved the show but Ihad nothing to show it,"he said. "I’d wear a T-shirt now and then, but a tattoo really shows a commitment."

Petrash, 27, came to Hawaii from Canada on a long holiday in 2010 and starting visiting "Lost" locations. One of the sites was Paradise Park in Manoa, where he met the owners of the snack shop. They hired him, and since then he’s decorated the shop with "Lost" items.

His wife Emily, 31, has a mural of "Lost" scenes tattooed on her shoulder.

"I’ve got the plane, a couple of survivors, and Jacob’s hidden in there watching over the island," she said. "And Ihave my favorite quote: ‘Each one of us was brought here for a reason.’"

Their romance is more than a "Lost"cause. She was living in Portland, Ore., searching for ideas for her own "Lost"tattoo and came across Petrash’s website.

"I thought he had such a cool life living in Hawaii, and I just wrote and we ended up talking," she said.

After an online relationship, they were married last year on Mokuleia Beach — site of the fictional Oceanic Flight 815 crash. The show remains a big part of their life to this day: They’ve named their dog Rousseau after a character on the show, and they’re constantly on the lookout for "Lost"-related items, posting pictures of found souvenirs and memorabilia on Facebook.

And when Steve Petrash gets angry, "he’ll just turn his back to me, like ‘Tell it to Ben,’" said his wife with a laugh.

CHRISLEANING, who planned to make the long trip from the United Kingdom to Hawaii for the Lost 2014 gathering, also said the show helped bring his family together. His daughter, then 7, started watching "Lost" with him starting in Season 4.

"In effect, she’s grown up with the show,"he said. "She’s always been big on science, and this show was phenomenal with its bent on science, physics, time travel and so on. So between the pair of us, we’ve continued to watch it."

Leaning, who runs a greeting card and gift company, became enamored with the alternate-reality games that "Lost" producers created to enhance the story line of the show. One fan created a website that became so popular, it morphed into its own online community.

Leaning said that three years ago in San Diego, 22 members of the group — from "all walks of life, all creeds, all colors" — met for the first time, staying for a week together. The camaraderie was magical.

"I can’t imagine a group of people being together for that long, never having met before, and never having a cross word, any friction of any sort between anybody,"he said. "It was truly extraordinary.

"The thing about ‘Lost’ — not only was it a great TV show, of course, but it was the people who loved it. There’s something very particular about a ‘Lost’ fan — the depth of thinking, the depth of understanding that was required to really understand this show."

Bay Area resident Jo Garfein, an archivist for a corporate communications company, tapped into that mentality with her "Lost"blog. Every week, she would analyze each scene and each character "to the point where I’m sure it was ridiculous,"she said. "It had my mind spinning 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

"It turned on an access, a part of my brain that I didn’t know existed, and I loved it."

After posting her observations on Facebook and Twitter, she gained a wide following, including the cast and crew.

"It was kind of surreal,"she said. "Ihad people from all over the world asking, ‘Did you post yet?’ and I’d say, ‘It’s 3 a.m. in California. I’m still working on it.’"

Garfein, 41, who visited "Lost"locations in Hawaii in 2008 and attended the 2010 Sunset on the Beach premiere for the final season, has used her network of followers for a good cause. After a friend was diagnosed with brain cancer, she and fellow Lostie Jared Wong held an auction of "Lost"memorabilia to raise awareness and funds for cancer research. The 2012 event was attended by cast and crew and raised more than $60,000 for the National Brain Tumor Society.

Though her friend died, Garfein is continuing her cancer awareness campaign. A Cancer Gets Lost online auction is underway through Saturday, and she planned to bring more items for a private auction here, with proceeds going to the American Cancer Society.

One fan will be sorely missed at Lost 2014. Karen Mauro came to Hawaii for the sixth and final season Sunset on the Beach premiere and says she has the show "in her blood." The Port St. Lucie, Fla., homemaker became a big fan "from the moment Jack opened his eye" — the series’ opening image — but within weeks she was hit with a series of calamities.

"When the show started, that year we had a hell of a time in South Florida with hurricanes," she said. "And then by the time that first week of November came, that’s when I was diagnosed with cancer."

She began blogging about "Lost," just for herself, but the turmoil in her life came out in her writing. "People would ask, ‘How you doing? You like the show, you’re very passionate about it.’ That’s when I decided it’s all right, I can share a little about what’s going on."

Watching "Lost" helped her deal with her condition and treatment.

"While in hospital, I know that I had the channel set to ‘Lost’ and I would try so hard to concentrate on the dialogue so I could just concentrate on something,"she said. "It was a little bit of an anchor to me, a lighthouse."

Mauro, who is now cancer-free, called the show "a very deep, moving teaching tool about my journey and my path." Not surprisingly, she identifies with the controversial series finale.

"My perspective is that the island is life, death and rebirth," she said. "And that’s exactly what we saw Jack experience. For me, I thought it was a beautiful ending."

Participate in the Cancer Gets Lost online auction at www.cancergetslost.org.