Archive for July, 2009

We met in the fall of 1996 at a retreat outside Philly. Jerry Michalski had convinced Ester Dyson (his editor at Release 1.0 and producer of PC Forum at the time) to pull together a small group of people from diverse disciplines who had, in the past year, said or written something that had made him say, “Aha.” (Photo courtesy of Doc Searls)

It was a magical time – a sense that things were shifting and moving, like tumblers in a great lock. The “conference” was unstructured, just over 50 people in northwest Philadelphia at Eagle Lodge and in an amphitheater where everyone could see each other. Alex Goldman of Internetnews.com reminded me today in his blog that I’d included a poem that Nick had written on the occasion when I chronicled my experience there and my ride back from that event with Chris Locke.

Nick and I stayed in contact over the years. He was wicked smart and a deep-thinking man, but more than anything else, kind — and that is how I will always remember him -intensely kind. I did not know his wife or two children, only that he talked with me about them all the time, so I felt I knew them. He was so, so proud of each and every success they had, no matter how small. AT 44, he passed away too soon.