I have never met Ed Brayton in person, but well over a decade ago, he and I were co-bloggers, along with Jason Kuznicki and Jon Rowe at the now defunct (and utterly vanished) Positive Liberty. This came about after Brayton and I had exchanged friendly correspondence and blogged back and forth; he on Dispatches from the Culture Wars and I here on Freespace. Brayton was instrumental in bringing me on board with Panda's Thumb (to which I am still technically a contributor, although my appearances there have been scarce for years).
Always more of an anti-conservative than a libertarian, he and I have had many differences, but we shared more: a scorn for pseudo-intellectuals and blowhards, contempt for cowards, particularly on the left who refused to stand up to Islamofascism, as well as a deep curiosity about the world, admiration for true ideals and those who put all they can into realizing them, and a love for witty writers such as Florence King, H.L. Mencken, and Christopher Hitchens. He himself has always written with wit, insight, and good cheer, and with a keen recognition for the fact that although he is not a scientist, there is much that we non-scientists can do to help protect the scientific community against the foolish and dangerous notions of religious conservatism and authoritarianism. He would probably deny it, but he fits well in the company of those, such as Mencken, or Sinclair Lewis, who devoted themselves to the principles of what we broadly call secular humanism. On a personal level, we shared much about our personal experiences, and I recall in particular his kind words about my grandmother's death, and the frankness with which he wrote at times about a person he loved dearly. (It would be inappropriate to add more, except to say that he quite bared his heart at a time when he and I were going through parallel experiences.) But while we corresponded so much over the years, we drifted apart, as often happens. He moved further to the left politically, and my own work left less time for work on the secularism projects. In our hundreds of emails, he has always been cheerful, polite, intelligent, and most of all, respectful of knowledge and of those who know--a rare virtue in an age of canonized stupidity and thoughtlessness.
After a long and grueling illness, Ed has decided to cease treatment, and to end his life in the manner he considered appropriate: in control of his destiny, on his own, human terms. I admire that, and his cheerful and steadfast character. It has been my pleasure to work alongside him and an honor to share the fight for our values.
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