Farewell

 

Bruce Taylor (1940-2026)

Fellow blogger Bruce died on Tuesday night. Though he hailed from North Dakota, he lived in Arizona with his beloved wife Judy. Sadly, Judy died on January 4th.

I imagine that the true character of a blogger filters through in their blogposts and Bruce came across as light-hearted and kind. He was a guy whose glass was half full, trying to see the good in things, in people, in situations.

His "Friday Funnies" posts were legendary. Every week he gathered together amusing cartoons and memes that revealed many of the silly aspects of being human. Those "funnies" were never bitter or political in nature, just cheeky and light like Bruce himself.

Once, Bruce referred to his battered old English beermat (American: coaster)  that he had pinched from a London pub in the eighties. It sat next to his computer and had probably become a health hazard. So I sent him two replacement English beermats. One was from my daughter's wedding and the other was produced by a famous Yorkshire brewery called "Timothy Taylor's".

I thought he would appreciate the Taylor reference. Coincidentally, his nephew in The Pacific Northwest happens to be called Timothy Taylor so Bruce sent that beermat on to him instead. In return, Bruce sent me a parcel containing about half a pound of random foreign coins. Judy was not impressed when she heard about the postage cost!

In 2022, I created a blogpost about my Google Streetview visit to Stanley in North Dakota. This small settlement was Bruce's home town. Of course the place was in his bones but he never longed to go back there. He appreciated the post though and in his comment wrote, "Wow! What a surprise! The red brick building in the third picture is the former Presbyterian Church that I spent many hours in as a youngster. It's long since become a cultural center and concert site after the population dipped. There were only about 1,100 people there when I grew up so you can see what the second oil "boom" has done. I also spent many hours in the old Mountrail County Promoter headquarters, which was in a dark and dingy basement with a huge, noisy linotype machine. And my "ancestral home" was a few blocks south, also on Main Street. Thanks for this, Professor. I, myself, hadn't looked at this site in years."

Now that he is dead, maybe Bruce has returned to Stanley. Where ever he has gone, we all know that he has simply departed before us and we shall follow after... over the hills and faraway.  Let us think of him every Friday and smile. Farewell Bruce and thank you for being you.