I'm a long time lurker on rara-avis who prefers just reading,
but this sad news compels me to post. I didn't learn of
Miker's passing until this morning, and now I've thought of
little else all day.
What's haunting is the fact that he died almost two months
ago - and yet we're only mourning him now. I'll bet his
family has no idea what an impact Miker had on all of
us.
By the same token, after reading his obituary and the tribute
page, I had no idea about Miker's real life and other
pursuits. Chess? Rock climbing? Off roading? Computers? Who
woulda thunk?
I'll miss Miker's hunger for literary knowledge. How he'd get
a list together of books from recommendations and then say he
was going on a business trip to Chicago and planned to read
them all. I used to wonder how it was possible, but he was
easily one of the best read members of this list.
I'll miss his willingness to share what he knew. I've saved
every post from the discussion he led a year or so ago,
intending to go back and study them for information. I'll do
that soon. I can't even begin to count the number of books
I've read based just on his recommendation.
I'll miss Miker's succint, acidic posts. The way he always
warmly greeted the newcomers. The way he cared so much about
noir and keeping the conversation on this list going.
Most of all, I'll miss his humor. Strange, because he wasn't
overtly funny. It was just the stuff that came through in
those posts, the earnestness.
Does anyone remember when he took that trip to Tijuana just
for research? I think it was after he read Kent Harrington's
"Dia De Los Muertos."
I didn't know him besides his presence here, but Miker sure
seems like a guy who knew how to live. Every day, it seems he
was doing, learning, experiencing something new.
I'm blown away.
Mark Miano
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