Farewell Dirk Talamasca

It had been some years since Dirk and I had spoken, but I remember him as a very helpful member of Caledon in my early years there.

It was with a sad nostalgia that I saw the blog posts about his passing. I was even more impressed at some of the more widely recognised names who attended Dirk's memorial this past weekend.

I was glad to hear the anecdotes from people who knew him far better than I, and happy that his typist was with family at the end.

Valé Dirk.

Memorial for Nix Sands

Last weekend, the typist behind the avatar known as Nix Sands lost his fight with pancreatic cancer. We were never close friends but I loved his creative spirit and he always had a kind word. We'd initially made friends after discovering a mutual interest in historical re-enacting back when he ran his shop called Yestergear.

Part of Nix's Monstro hat

He had a flair for the whimsy and the outrageous that brought a smile to many faces. And I loved his Dieslepunk vehicles, though I'm sad I didn't get all of them. Now I don't have the option.

Some of the attendees at his Memeorial

This is only the third virtual Memorial Service I have attended. Some people just disappear and you never know what happened to them. In Nix's case he'd been quite public about his diagnosis, although he stayed away from things like Relay For Life as it hit too close to home.

Bon Voyage Mr. Sands where ever you fare. Your light going out makes the place seem a little darker for all.

Valé Kaiserine Kendra I

I was saddened to learn today of the recent death of Kendra Bancroft.

I had known of her in my early time in SL but got to know her a lot better during the Neualtenburg War RP in early 2007. This was the cause of my mechanical arm.



Later I was invited to DJ Oktoberfest in Neualtenburg, which was great fun. Viking helmets, chicken hats and assorted sillyness were all part and parcel.

I was surprised to discover that her typist, Maddie Blaustein, was also a voice actress for many of the Pokemon characters.

She will be missed.

Timely Sands runs out

This weekend while doing the blogrun, I was brought up short by an entry on Dr. Fabre's journal mourning the loss of Timely Sands.




This is the second time someone I've known is SL has passed away. While I didn't know her particularly well, I had spoken with her on a number of occasions during her stint as a spy during the Neulatenburg War.

Her enthusiasm was enormous and she was always polite and well mannered.

She'll be missed by those who ever had the pleasure to have met her.

Valé

A Secondlife Funeral

Most of you out there will have probably known of an internet friend who passes away. Someone whom you never met but who you spoke to, argued with, laughed with and generally had some form of conversation with. You may not have known them other than a name on a board or you have have shared things with them about your real life.

And when that person is not longer there are postings and comments about them and how they'll be missed. I'd known a guy off the Serenity Oz boards who I knew simply as Choccy. I'd met him briefly when he cam down from Sydney once when a group fo the Browncoats got together for a drink. He died of cancer not long after and I believe there's still a dedication thread that has been "stickied" to the top of the discussion groups.

But today was something very different. Today we learnt that the player behind the SecondLife avatar Shucks Valkyrie had died from a heart attack there was an impromptu memorial service held in the cemetery of the Tombstone, Arizona sim, his most recent place to be.



I've never attended a virtual funeral service before. It was odd yet it worked. The sim manager said some words of remembrance and then someone started the words to Amazing Grace. Each line was delivered in chat, completely unprompted, yet there was no duplicating of lines as it was taken up by mourners. Someone even kicked in with a recorded audio version of it.

I only met Shucks a handful of times but he was always having fun and making others laugh. He will be missed.