[Obituary from
Linux.com Editor-in-Chief
Robin 'Roblimo' Miller on
July 11, 2008:]
Our colleague Joe Barr
sometimes described himself as a doddering
old geek. Many knew him as a Linux evangelist; others knew him
from his ham radio activities. And those of us who worked with
Joe knew him in all of his sometimes irascible, often funny moods. Joe
was always one of our favorite people, and we are devastated to report
that he died at home, unexpectedly, last night.
How many people both write about and espouse GNU/Linux -- and
also love miniature donkeys and
rescue abandoned puppies? Joe was one of a kind. We will miss him
on many levels, in many ways, but we will not miss him nearly as much
as his wife
Susan will; they were married almost exactly one year ago, after
knowing each other for more than 10 years.
Susan asks that instead of sending flowers, you make a donation to an
animal rescue group of your choice in Joe's name.
Not long ago, at a SourceForge,
Inc. corporate conference held in Chicago, Joe delighted the entire
assemblage with an impromptu recitation from this ee cumming poem:
since feeling is first
who pays any attention
to the syntax of things
will never wholly kiss you;
wholly to be a fool
while Spring is in the world
my blood approves,
and kisses are a far better fate
than wisdom
lady i swear by all flowers. Don't cry
- the best gesture of my brain is less than
your eyelids' flutter which says
we are for each other: then
laugh, leaning back in my arms
for life's not a paragraph
And death i think is no parenthesis
That's Joe to a T -- not only the poem's content, which is sadly apropos
in an obituary tribute to him -- but also the fact that he was the kind
of guy who would stand up in the middle of a business meeting to recite
poetry.
I will stop typing now, because I'm crying too hard to hit the right keys.
Robin 'Roblimo' Miller
Editor in Chief,
SourceForge, Inc.
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