Edward O. Wilson has died. Carl Zimmer’s obituary at that link is a fine, fair accounting of his extraordinary life and the profound influence he had and still has on ecosystem and evolutionary biology. Wilson was a complicated man and led a complex intellectual life. He was an exceptional field and experimental researcher, showing that …
RIP
Our fragile circle, breached
Valued commenter Raven introduced me to this Irving Townsend poem about the loss of a beloved pet: “We who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more temporary than our own, live within a fragile circle, easily and often breached. Unable to accept its awful gaps, we still would live no other way. We cherish …
RIP, Norm MacDonald
Dead at 61 after privately fighting cancer for nearly a decade. Absolutely one of my favorite comedians of all time (I was just talking about him on here the other day), up there with Patrice O’Neill, and this one hurts really bad. There was no one who had his delivery, deadpan, offbeat timing, and quirky …
RIP, Doug Mataconis
Via the always excellent Outside the Beltway comes the terrible news that Doug Mataconis has died: Jazz Shaw drew my attention to a post on Doug’s Facebook feed from last evening: To all of Doug’s friends, it is with a very sad heart and deep regret that we share that Doug passed away. We and …
A Totally True, Actually Happened, and Never Before Told Story of Bixby!
Last night in a comment to Cole’s Thank You All post, former lurker and newest full time commenter – no pressure – CindyH stated: As a lurker, I’ll come out and say how much I’m going to miss the stories and pictures of such wonderful doggies. Well, CindyH, we have at least one more Bixby story …
A Totally True, Actually Happened, and Never Before Told Story of Bixby!Post + Comments (154)
RIP Rosie Cole (2005??-2021)
In her typical inimitable form, Rosalita aka Rosie Cole, grumped her way off the mortal coil this morning at 11:15 am. She passed pleasantly under the care of the most wonderful vet staff in America. We first gave her a sedative to relax her and Rosie felt no pain for the first time in a …
Every Time You Go Away
I was back in NYC the first week of May because it was time to say a formal goodbye. My mother passed away on April 25th, probably around 5 am PST. I seem to only get to return to the city after some major change and, in a small personal way, this was as big …