If this is a somewhat rambling post, I apologize. I’m a bit discombobulated and I’m fighting back tears as I type this.
Next week, I’ll be co-running a session on Flickr and libraries at NEKLS Tech Day. I was brainstorming about it with Michael Porter, and he made this point: Flickr and other social web tools have created avenues for the two of us, him in California and me in Kansas, to have a cheerful conversation and have each other listed as “friends” on Flickr, MySpace and other sites–and we’ve never met face-to-face.
Which is really cool and important, but is, right now, just a way for me to lead up to this: Britt Daniel died last week in a motorcycle accident at the age of 39.
I never met Britt in person. He posted on a forum devoted to tabletop role-playing games, which I also posted on. He was contentious, mischievous and outspoken. At first, we had a tendency to disagree. But behind his snarky online demeanor was a very nice and funny guy. We discovered that we had a lot in common: a love of old comics (especially from the Golden Age), a love of sword and sorcery fantasy, and a love of redheads. We would occasionally send PMs to each other, making jokes and just being friendly with each other. I wanted to meet him in person, if only to buy him a beer and chat with him. But I never actually did. And yet, thanks to this new technology, this social networking technology that has suddenly become so controversial, I feel as if I’ve lost a real friend.
Goodbye, Britt. I’m sorry I never got to meet you face-to-face. But I’m glad I got to meet you at all.
3 Comments
You have all of my sympathy. It’s terrible to lose friends.
I knew Britt, his brother Evan, and his mother Andrea, since I was a stupid kid of 13 or so. Britt and Evan fought like brothers, but did almost everything together in those days. Their family was always filled with love. At the center was always their kind, wise, and loving mother. She always took in the strays for thanksgiving and other holidays. They grew up without much money or anything else. I still recall Britt dragging around photo copied versions of 1st and 2nd edition champions, an RPG we used to play. I last saw him in 2002, but we talked on the phone monthly to catch up. He never stopped living life and having a great time. Everything I own, even the music I listen to, reminds me of him. Even now when I’m not thinking I pick up the phone and find myself about to hit the speed dial with his name to tell him about something “really cool” as I used to do. I stop myself, and remember it all happened. He’s gone. At that moment I feel like a car just after an impact, quite, assessing the situation. I also miss Evan and Andrea, because I live to far away. I call and we talk, but it always involves that same sadness, but we all miss Britt. There were few who did not notice him, and most called him friend.
Thanks for writing that, James. My heart goes out to you and Britt’s family.
Just the other day, I stumbled upon this thread on RPGnet, and man, it just broke my heart.