Thanks, Darryl

-- by Dave

When I was down in L.A. a couple of years ago to do a book signing for Strawberry Days, I was pleasantly surprised when Darryl Pearce, who'd been a commenter here for years, came by to meet me. At my urging, he hung around at the signing and we had a nice long conversation.

Darryl has always been one of my smarter and fuinnier commenters, and he was very much that way in person. It was one of my better-spent hours in LA.

So I was deeply saddened to read, via Thers at Eschaton, that Darryl had -- on a midday jog -- suffered a heart attack or aneurysm and died very suddenly.

There's a note at his LiveJournal site from the family. As you can see, they're asking friends to donate in Darryl's name to help Raise the Sails, an outfit based up here in Grays Harbor. Darryl, himself a Civil War reenactor, was a history nut and a devotee of the tall ships that the fund will benefit.

Blogs like mine really depend on people like Darryl for their lifeblood: occasional commenters, but regular readers. And when he did comment, it was always worth reading. He was a kind, generous, and thoughtful man, and his loss not only leaves this little blogging community poorer, but the world as well.

Thanks, Darryl. We'll carry on in your memory.