someone warm and funny won't be contributing anymore.

Can we include Madrigal, Knut, Rebecca Lizard, John H., Herself, Jengod, and erinaceous in that thread? They're warm and funny, and they don't contribute anymore, and a lot of us miss them.

t edit And what I mean by that snark is that the people I listed are very much alive, but have left the board. And at this moment, there seems to be adequate reason to think that perhaps Gus didn't die, and also just left the board.

I miss people who stop posting, but if they're still alive, holding a virtual wake for them is going a little overboard.

"Who the fuck were we chasing?" Another Wire reference for the road. Well, if this is fake, it'll have only cost me some virtual Natty Bo. But he better not come back here...there are easier ways to quit the board. He would wish he were dead, if he did that.(But I'm still gonna miss talking to him, or whoever that was.) But I'm not destroyed or anything...if he could fool me...he's good at it. I'm torn... between a tip of the hat and slapping his face(If it was a fake-out) I'm okay with the name being in red, honestly. And I would totally ask my mother to pass the word to b.org so that would not be the weird part...the weird part would be y'all in a strange city trying to rent a pool table for my corpse to give me a Ray Cole exit. But I hope they're not laughing at my honest emotions, cause that shit came from a real place, even if the relationship was so much blarney.

Dang, Trudy.

Trudy, this anger sounds really personal. Has anything that felt that disrespectful happened to you here?

Oh, Trudy. I see that you're hurt, but you also seem to be discounting the very real feelings of everyone on this board in favor of an entirely hypothetical and projected remote possibility. I am worried not for me but for JZ having a sorrwoful and sleepless night, or the many Buffistas who have lost people this year and are already carrying a heavy load of grief.

I agree with the Buffistas who feel that even if all our suspicions are false, that on the extremely slim chance anyone close to Gus who comes to the board and reads this thread, they will be able to see the very real affection for Gus which we have and be happy to set us straight on the facts. I have more respect for their understanding and for the Buffistas than you seem to.

I'm not that angry about it now. I feel like I grieved for nothing, though. That felt like a manipulation and is harder to forgive. Part of the motivation for the pseud is to indulge that fantasy of imagining people crying at our funeral, but being able to witness it. I resent having somebody else jerking my tears for their emotional satisfaction.

Also, I think it's a bad idea to start saying "the truth doesn't matter." It should matter. It undermines the trust. We support each other in the physical world with aid fairly often. That could easily be exploited if we didn't care about the truth.

I can live with the ambiguity. I can live with somebody existing here as a pseud with a made-up life, as long as they respect the community.

It's not respectful to the community to fake your own death.

There never was a Guy Straley teaching at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, as he claimed.

I am worried not for me but for JZ having a sorrwoful and sleepless night, or the many Buffistas who have lost people this year and already carrying a heavy load of grief.

Yes, this.

With all the incredible things I've learned simply by virtual contact with all of you, I'd have been shocked if no one asked any questions about someone so cared for. Seriously. I can't imagine people NOT linking to anything that could have been found about Gus.

Just like the numbers of memorials I've attended where everyone brings photos or samples of the life being honored.

The smart, funny and curious that Gus exhibited? It would, by definition be reflected in the community he enjoyed.

This oh so necessary thorough vetting of the facts could absolutely be dealt with in email and live journals and everywhere else we gossip about each other.

I prefer to see things discussed here in this thread. I don't want to gossip elsewhere. We are not gossiping, we are discussing an event that has happened on our board. I do not see where we have dishonored the memory of a beloved fellow here.

I'll just be repeating what I and many others have said to say anything more.

Trudy, it feels like you are being just as disrespectful to quite a few members of this board.