That shrinking world thing I mentioned earlier

[pecunium]

We all have hangouts. The local pub, a restaurant where they know our quirky predilictions (there's a greek place in Monterey where I can still have my coffee delivered, as I like it, before I look at the menu), the barbershop, etc.

For me, these days, it's a couple of places on the net. There was once rasseff, and there have been BBSs, but of late it's corners of Livejournal, and other interactive blogs.

Making Light has been that way for me for some years. In part because it has the better aspects of rasseff (a usenet group. I still treasure that I was given a rasseff award, though sadly without flippers; then again, it wasn't really worth flippers, but a guy can hope).

In all these places one develops a sense of community (one of my regrets about the recent LACon was failing to meet familiar strangers). I have, in my travels, gone out of my way to meet people I only knew online.

And I have been sad when people disappear.

John M. Ford died today.

I can't tell you much about him. I knew him only from comments he wrote, in the here and there. They were clever, witty, on point, and digressive. He was, in short, much like the rest of the crowd in the places I like to hang out.

I can't do much to eulogise him. I knew him barely. I don't know if we ever met (SF fandom is wide-ranging, and he may have been at a con I was at, sometime in the past 30 years), but he touched me. Over at Making Light they are having a wake. It's all a wake ought to be.

So, if you want to see what it is the world lost, as this clod was washed into the sea, take a look.

John M. Ford, 1957-2006

Comments

[shelly-rae.livejournal.com]

I usually read my friends pages first before wandering over to Making Light. Now I think I'll put off that wandering for a bit and go outside in the sun while it lasts. I've had many delightful conversations with John (aka Mike) over the years--surprisingly not so much about books but about music. We both have certain opinions about how soundtracks ought to fit the themes of movies--too much to go into here. He also had terrific stories to tell about the musicians who where his neighbors. Thanks for the headsup....
Anon

ETA: I see that news has traveled quickly all over my friends list--I can't even bear to read them yet.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

Yes, it amazes me how widely his passing has rippled.

As Graydon said, "Praise the ale when it is drunk, the ice when it is crossed and a friend on when he is on the pyre."

Making Light will be good for what ails you.

TK

[saoba.livejournal.com]

I saw the news about Dr Mike in about a dozen different places in under an hour; LJ (multiple posters), Making Light, an email group for an SCA Great Household, and a fannish/Klingon list among them. Editors, Klingons and Mongols oh my! And all agreeing it was a great loss.

[jazzfish]

A wake. Yeah. That is an excellent description.