skirtcafe.org

It is with a heavy heart and leaden hands that I type this.

Details are scant, and "hard information" difficult to come by, but according to all the intelligence and information I have "Since1982" passed away sometime in either late January or early February of this year following complications from stroke and subsequent cardiac failure.

Those who remember "Skip", as he was also known as, will recall his wit and intellect -- and that he could also be a real handful at times. He didn't brag much about it, but he had at least a couple of advanced degrees in marine biology behind him, held a Master Mariner's ticket, and spent some time in front of motion-picture cameras. In private conversation, his intellect was virtually palpable. This author misses him and his voice, even if we did butt heads from time to time.

We believe he's interred at his family's burial plot near Fort Lauderdale, FL/USA. As far as is known, he leaves no survivors.

Godspeed, Skip. You are not forgotten.

Yes, Carl. Skip and I had some PM's when I was new here. Quite a character with some interesting opinions. He thought I would be on his side and he wasn't far wrong. We were friends. I wondered why we hadn't heard from him for awhile. It's good that now we all have been informed, thanks to a couple of good guys.

Tom

Yes, we will all miss a very sincere and intelligent controversialist. I have given my eulogy on S4M but, suffice to say, it goes without saying that most of us have already missed his input and, I am sure, have for some time now, suspected the worst.

I have missed his (sometimes thorny) input for quite some time, and did suspect that he might have had health issues. Sorry to see my fears confirmed. Skip, you are already missed!

I will add my words here as I have already done on Sk4M.

Following an early altercation with him shortly after I joined we found a lot of common ground and PM'd each other regularly, apart from the public banter on the Fora.

He was indeed a formidable intellect and readily voiced his opinions of those he didn't like or approve of. He did have mounting personal medical issues which added fuel to our PMs.

His last PM to me was on January 7th this year about his medical issues, but his content then gave no indication that he was near the end. I expect that despite his increasing immobility the strokes and heart failure were unexpected.

I shall miss him. May he rest in peace.

Tom K.

RIP...

-J

My thought is that the world is a somewhat less colourful place for his passing.
Wherever he is, I'd bet he's in a skirt and marvelling at what's been written here.
Steve.

He will be missed for his "lively" contributions to this forum! I got a PM from him in response to my early posts. He basically told me off for not introducing myself, though I had done just that in the Introductions section. When I pointed this out, he was of course unreprentant; that was his way.

The long periods when he did not post anything on SC, usually followed up by some reference to hospital when he reappeared, made it pretty clear he had major health problems. He could be cantankerous and downright rude, but he was clearly a good advocate for men in skirts, out there wearing them all the time. I developed a liking for his contributions here, and he would have been an interesting and stimulating person to meet.

RIP, Skip.

... yet he keeps on having birthdays! Today he is 80. Is there any way to stop announcing what would have been the birthday of a deceased Café member?

skirtyscot wrote: ↑Mon Nov 01, 2021 12:10 am... yet he keeps on having birthdays!

So do Bach, Beethoven, and who knows how many politicos -- yet nobody really complains...

This is down to the way the innards of the forum work, and I'll need to exert some time to figure out if anything can be done about the matter. If work, however, has its way, that may be in about 2050 sometime. I.e. long after I'm dead.

skirtyscot wrote: ↑Mon Nov 01, 2021 12:10 am ... yet he keeps on having birthdays! Today he is 80. Is there any way to stop announcing what would have been the birthday of a deceased Café member?

Why worry about his birthday being shown on the page??
I did not know him he was before my time here at the cafe, but it does not bother me when birthdays are posted and the honoree is not longer a member or who has past on to another life.
It is just so not important, all that is being accomplished is erasing history...

I think you should let the birthdays of deceased members stand. Most of us don't have access to the actual burial plot of deceased members, and that little "birthdays" reminder can serve as a nice memorial. Headstones have birthdays on them after all.

I had quite a few interesting debates with Skip, can't believe he has been gone this long! I like the reminders of those who have left us, Gone but not forgotten if you will.

I am of the sentiment that the truly "Departed Members" of Skirt Cafe's memberships should be remembered. After all, we still recall the birthdays of famous composers who are long gone (and too many long forgotten!). I still have in my personal "outbox" a message sent to "Skirted in SF" (Stuart Gallion) who had passed away before I sent my missive and before I learnt of his demise. I keep it there to remind me of my mortality,

Disagreements on this are welcome, so long as they are well expressed, but I really see no harm in (1) keeping these reminders around and (2) not releasing the screen names of the departed to others to assume, likely by accident.

crfriend wrote: ↑Fri Nov 19, 2021 12:06 am Disagreements on this are welcome, so long as they are well expressed, but I really see no harm in (1) keeping these reminders around and (2) not releasing the screen names of the departed to others to assume, likely by accident.

Hi Carl
None from me, after all the one absolute thing we all have in common is our mortality.
Steve.