Blogging & Crying: RIP Jon Swift - Updated

The blogger known as Jon Swift died unexpectedly a few days ago. I'm sitting here crying for a man I never met but considered a true friend. His real name was Al Weisel, but to me he'll always be Jon Swift, a fabulous blogger with a thoroughly appropriate nym. He was a really kind man, very gracious in linking to small bloggers starting out. I wouldn't have made the B-list without his help and encouragement early on.

As I sit here thinking about how to write his eulogy post, it occurs to me that he was the orginal Colbert. He was such a good satirist that many people didn't realize he was joking. The tagline on his blog is, "I am a reasonable conservative who likes to write about politics and culture. Since the media is biased I get all my news from Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and Jay Leno monologues." Of course he wasn't really conservative at all, but so subtle was his mockery that many conservatives believed he was one of them, and many liberals took offense at a first read of his posts.

I expect many others will offer more eloquent tributes to him than this, so all I'll say is it's a great loss to Blogtopia and the greater world. He leaves a hole in our little universe that won't ever be filled. Rest in peace dear friend who I never met but loved anyway. My deepest condolences to the family and those who knew him well in real life.

Update: The universe is such a mysterious place. My internet friend Ina and I share a remarkable amount of connections in real life. We both lived in the same town at the same time for many years. We socialized in the same general circles and know many of the same people, yet we never met in real life. We met in the comment section of a blog. Now it turns out, that Ina knew Jon Swift in real life as Al Weisel. They were friends in college and she had been looking for him. Sadly, it was his death that provided the final clue to his whereabouts, but she wrote a gorgeous eulogy for him.

Update Two: My pal Skippy also has a lovely eulogy and has kindly linked to many others around Blogtopia (Yes!, skippy coined that phrase). And of course, Memeorandum has more as well.

[h/t to RumpRoast who broke the news to me]