In early 2007, TrueBlueMajority (TBM) and Dem in the heart of Texas (DithoT) lost their beloved mothers. Following a conversation discussing their common grief, DithoT wrote the first post titled “The Grieving Room,” published in mid-April of that year. The strong community response prompted her to continue the series on Monday evenings, which she did along with various contributors for several years. When groups became a site feature in 2011, TBM created The Grieving Room group, though she did not assume responsibility for the group until DithoT officially passed the TGR baton to her at the end of 2012. From then until February of 2019, TBM maintained a semi-regular posting schedule with other group members pitching in. Currently, the group generates few original posts but still republishes many memorial stories, heavy with grief and love. [Author’s note: I edited The Grieving Room description above post-publication to correct the historical record.]
6412093
UID: 114577
Site join date: 12/26/2006
Death date: 5/23/2021
Memorial posts: by Besame, by siab and by Angmar
Known familiarly as Redwoodman for the persona he adopted in his marvelous stories for the Daily Bucket series about the imaginary but very real Frog Court in his backyard, 6412093 wrote 453 stories and nearly 32,000 comments in his 14 years at Daily Kos.
His most recommended story told of two undocumented migrant laborers a gardener brought along “to help repair my garden walkways by leveling the paths and laying paving stones.” Knowing they likely were paid low wages due to their immigration status, Redwoodman called a friend who was head of the local cement masons’ union and “connected them with well-paying union jobs as tile setters.”
Besame, Community Spotlight pays tribute to Redwoodman (1950-2021)
aoeu
UID: 201315
Site join date:1/5/2009
Death date: early January 2022
Memorial post: by aoeu (account borrowed by his brother and sister)
Spam hunter and tag librarian extraordinaire, aoeu had a passion for order. When he followed a new user, it was almost always a reliable sign the user would prove not to be a good fit for the site. During his 13 years at Daily Kos, aoeu wrote 783 stories and over 55,000 comments.
As I sit in his apartment and write this (after figuring out the Dvorak keyboard) I see reminders of everything about him. There’s an electric guitar (set to low to not disturb the neighbors), several e-book readers, some computer core memory (technically mine!), plus reminders of his family and friends.
[...]
He was very pleased to be part of Daily Kos, fighting against the trolls, trying to keep political discourse honest and civil. You all meant so much to him.
aoeu’s siblings, AOEU died earlier this year
BruinKid
UID: 26295
Site join date: 10/20/2004
Death date: 5/19/2018
Memorial posts by Neeta Lind (co-written with Meteor Blades), by susans, and by 714day
A devoted alumnus of UCLA (BS and MS in Mathematics, 2001 and 2007, and Ph.D. in Statistics, 2013), BruinKid brought a special energy to his three main passions: statistics, blogging, and Democratic politics. As a Night Owls regular, he had a routine of posting a comment listing the newest DK user registrations, often watching for the post’s publication in order to submit the first comment. He was also a regular in Daily Kos Elections posts. Although he wrote about a wide variety of topics, he may have become most strongly associated with the stories he wrote about late-night talk show hosts. He wrote almost 1000 posts and over 21,000 comments during his 13+ years on Daily Kos.
After a few family members, friends, and colleagues described Sean similarly at the service—brilliant, outgoing, ebullient, energetic, passionate, and on-and-on in the same vein—it was clear he was the same person to everyone who knew him, his infectious smile bringing joy to all.
Neeta Lind and Meteor Blades, In Memoriam: Dr. Sean Eric Wang aka BruinKid Nov. 29, 1979-May 19, 2018
cacamp
UID: 106683
Site join date: 9/30/2006
Death date: 12/27/2013
Memorial post by Neeta Lind
Carter Camp (Ponca), aka cacamp, contributed over 12.5 thousand comments during his seven years on the site. One of the original founders of the American Indian Movement, Carter remained a leader and activist till his final illness, joining the protests against the Keystone XL pipeline in the spring of 2013.
racism is rife in MN. this [monument] is long overdue and it always shows up vividly when the hanging of the 38 (Americas largest mass execution) is mentioned. Peope just hate to admit their forefathers were racists and then resort to racism to defend them.
[...]
So this memorial is a very nice victory for those who have been involved in working for justice, both Red and White, but there is still a lot of work to be done before the true history of the Mankato 38 is told and the anti-Indian hate so endemic to that state is put to rest.
cacamp, comment on Meteor Blades’ post, Open thread for night owls: After 150 years site of largest U.S. mass execution gets new memorial
Cedwyn
UID: 27823
Site join date: 10/27/2004
Death date: 1/31/2015
Memorial posts by jotter, by Onomastic, and again by Onomastic
Cedwyn was a force of nature. Through her attendance at several Netroots Nation (NN) gatherings and other in-person events, she solidified her reputation as someone up for any party and any adventure. Somehow, she also found time to post here. An intensely private person, she let her Daily Kos friends know about the severity of her illness only about a month before her passing; the outpouring of love and support on her behalf during her last few weeks was extraordinary. Funny, irreverent, and a stickler for observing grammar rules, Cedwyn wrote 349 stories and over 50,000 comments during her 10 years of activity at Daily Kos.
exmearden
UID: 58816
Site join date: 7/14/2005
Death date: 11/26/2010
Memorial posts by Meteor Blades, by occams hatchet, by Sara R, and by Neeta Lind. (The Memorial Roll Call Vol. 1 contains links to several more.)
In her five short years at the site, exmearden wrote only 144 stories and almost 6400 comments—yet every post was a jewel.
She always wrote from her heart. Her best pieces were always intensely personal reflections - reflections which at the same time gave context and depth to the the political realities they expressed. Exme understood to her core that the personal was always, always political - and no one ever negotiated that human path joining the two with such little apparent effort and to such artful effect.
occams hatchet, The starlight formerly known as exmearden
She died before The Grieving Room was constituted as a site group, but she had a gift for elegy herself and contributed many stories to the series carrying that tag. One has the sense from her posts, before and during her illness, that though she dearly loved her life, her family, and her community, she also accepted death as integral to the cycle.
Their energy remains in the world, within the shared memories of those who remember them; their imprint on the world now is separate from the existence of their corporeal form.
exmearden, The Grieving Room — What wasn’t done
Floja Roja
UID: 60572
Site join date: 08/05/2005
Death date. 11/27/2021
Memorial post by Onomastic
Floja Roja had already established a reputation as a prolific commenter by the time she started “The Morning F Bomb” on Nov. 11, 2012, as an (almost) daily hangout/open thread. By the time she ended her run, on March 7, 2014, she had posted 384 stories. A pace like that has been sustained by very few Community writers, especially for posts as image- and embed-heavy as hers were. Check out any of Floja Roja’s F Bomb posts to see what Onomastic means. (Yes, all but a couple of them are headlined The Morning F Bomb.)
[Floja Roja’s] way consisted of music, books, good movies and tv, friends, adored family, her much loved cats, and so many of you. And hovers. She was the Queen of Hovers.
Onomastic, Celebrating the life of one of our own — the incomparable hover-loving Floja Roja
jbou
UID: 142
Site join date: 10/13/03
Death date: 5/10/2016
Memorial post by The Marti
As shown by his join date and three-digit UID, jbou was one of the first site members. His indefatigable contrariness was front and center in virtually all of his 878 posts and 21688 comments. The headline alone of his last post encapsulates his usual persona: Read my diaries, No one pays me dick, I represent nobody, and I hope everybody f¥cks off.
Yet some knew him better.
jbou was maddening, there is no doubt about it! He was passionate about what he believed in, and just as passionate about what he did not believe in.
[...]
He cared more about other people than most of us ever suspected. He had a wicked wit, and a funny way of doing just about everything. His diaries almost always made me laugh, and his polls were a thing of beauty! He had such talent for writing with acerbic wit, and could remind you that the Emperor was truly buck nekkid! He also had a kindness in him that was too often overlooked.
The Marti, jbou Has Left The Building….
JeffW
UID: 111628
Site join date: 11/13/06
Memorial post by annieli
JeffW described himself as a “Sixtysomething civil engineer, retired from the City of Chicago, with my lovely wife Calamity Jean, and our cat Moishe. Working towards our farm in/beyond July, 2010!”
He was a mainstay of WYFP? (What’s Your Fucking Problem?), one of the oldest groups on the site. For a very long stretch, JeffW posted updates about the geodesic dome in northwest Illinois that he and his wife were building as their retirement home.
His first story on the topic, WYFP: Our House, was published on June 26, 2013. Over the next seven years, let’s just say many of his updates in posts or comments fell comfortably within the overall theme for WYFP. And then the pandemic came and threw a monkey wrench into everything, including home construction.
jotter
UID: 3541
Site join date: 11/20/2003
Death date: 5/2/2021
Memorial post by Neeta Lind
jotter is now having a High Impact on the other side.
jotter joined the site in 2003 and very quickly started tallying the top posts each day. He posted 6353 entries involving stats he had access to at Daily Kos’ backend. His series had the lovely rollover: Proudly sticking a thermometer up the butt of the Daily Kos Community since 2005.
Neeta Lind, Glenn ‘jotter’ Hammonds, Daily Kos’ volunteer statistician, has left us at 70
In his day job, jotter was a brilliant scientist; he wrote the code for our Search function in his spare time because we needed one and he could do it. The Top Comments group still uses the image quilt they include on their posts, thanks to the workaround he enabled—just one of the many thoughtful gestures he made on behalf of the Community.
For all his many talents and accomplishments, jotter remained approachable, modest, and self-effacing, exuding a gentle, tolerant amusement about his and others’ idiosyncrasies. He left an indelible mark in every community he graced.
Kitsap River
UID: 39520
Site join date: 1/06/2005
Death date: 1/27/2021
River wrote eloquently and powerfully with her heart on her sleeve. Her posts about her health challenges, including several years of end-stage renal failure and dialysis followed by a successful kidney transplant, gave her an opportunity to bear witness to how difficult it is to flourish with a permanent disability in the United States. She was also devoted to building community in every possible venue, serving in her state Democratic Party, caring for rescue animals, and even offering to share her homemade jams upon request—just to list a few forms of engagement. At Daily Kos, she belonged to several active groups, including Community Spotlight (the Rescue Rangers) and KosAbility; she wrote 134 stories and 15216 comments in her 16 years at the site.
she was a delight to chat with here over the years, and she will be terribly missed. a great light has gone out.
wu ming, comment on Charles CurtisStanley’s post, The bravest person I’ve ever known: Kitsap River has passed
One Pissed Off Liberal
UID: 85446
Site join date: 4/21/06
Death date: 10/2/2019
Memorial post by srkp23
He was a man of great force and charisma; a passionate and compassionate, uncompromising warrior for justice; a devoted father; a vet (iirc); an artist; a person who had lived a lot of life and drew insight and love from all of his experiences. He sometimes burned with righteous rage; he was alive and real and honest. And now he is no longer with us.
srkp23, Sad News: OPOL has passed away
OPOL always made it clear where he stood, to be sure, and he also came prepared to stand fast and offer rebuttals for any possible challenge. In his long-form posts, he would offer a rich, complex, layered analysis in support of his position. This one, glorifying war is a sin, is a good example of his virtuosic compositional style, as it also includes an abundance of interesting and relevant quotations, images, and videos. He knew how to tell a story, both on paper and through the life he led. OPOL left us with 448 stories and 46,921 comments from his 10 years of activity on the site.
Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse
UID: 67013
Site join date: 9/25/2005
Death date: 12/28/2016
Memorial post by Aji
PDNC wrote 523 posts and almost 26,000 comments during her 11 years at Daily Kos. A lawyer by day, she covered many topics skillfully and well. But her heart lay with climate activism, intertwined with social and environmental justice. PDNC was a key organizer behind the climate blogathons in the early 2010s, when the true urgency of the climate emergency was beginning to register with the progressive blogosphere at long last.
I remember the way she wrote, the sharp distinction between her professional writing and public postings and her private conversations. The former were formal, organized and polished and to the point. The latter were the controlled chaos of joy in life, of the feeling that there is never enough time to say all that needs to be said, of words and thoughts and emotions bubbling up and boiling over and tumbling down in their own waterfall, capitalization an inconvenience, punctuation and sentence structure too confining, and I always, always understood what she was Saying.
Aji, When the Water Meets the Light: Linda McClure, April 22, 1953-December 28, 2016
realalaskan
UID: 41533
Site join date: 2/1/2005
Death date: 8/18/2015
Memorial posts by matching mole, by lineatus, by kestrel, and by Neeta Lind
Daily Kos member realalaskan was a gifted writer, photographer, and naturalist whose love of his family and his chosen home radiated through all his writings on the site, perhaps most obviously in his posts for Dawn Chorus. In March 2013 he and his wife visited the Bay Area, and of course, a special DK birding outing was organized to celebrate their presence. During his 11 years at Daily Kos, he wrote 17 stories and just shy of 5,000 comments.
realalaskan was a joy to know. I met him in person only once but feel the richer for it. Both he and his wife, Libby, were so warm and funny, I felt an immediate connection. I loved his stories of Alaska, his beautiful photos, and his stories about visiting and traveling with Ms. realalaskan, his daughter. He was so proud of her and her accomplishments!
tgypsy, comment on matching mole’s post, Dawn Chorus: Remembering realalaskan
A man of many talents, realalaskan was the building inspector for Sitka, Alaska, a spectacularly beautiful (and historically/culturally fascinating) small city based on an island in the Alexander Archipelago near Juneau. On Aug. 18, 2015, realalaskan was inspecting water drainage in a new subdivision under construction on a mountain slope; two young men, Elmer and Ulises Diaz, were working inside a house nearby. Normally, the period following a heavy rain would present a fair test for a drainage system—but the unusually heavy rain combined with other factors peculiar to the area caused a number of landslides. One of them obliterated the section where the three men were working. Their untimely deaths not only shocked and grieved the community, but also prompted a wide-ranging investigation into the event. The town continues to grapple with the best ways to address their vulnerability to landslides, potentially more frequent now as a result of the climate emergency.
triciawyse
UID 51676
Site join date: 4/29/2005
Death date: 3/5/2016
This memorial post by Meteor Blades contains links to over two dozen other memorials for triciawyse.
The one, the only, the beloved Pootie Queen, triciawyse was the founder of and guiding light for the PWB Peeps, still one of the busiest and most significant communities on the site. Few Community members come close to matching the impact that triciawyse had on us. The warmth, humor, and creativity she expressed in every post breathed life into the slogan, “Came for the politics, stayed for the Community.”
I had the good fortune of meeting triciawyse at NN12, which due to her heavy personal obligations and limited funds was the only one she was able to attend. Modest, self-effacing, and gracious, she was surprised and touched by the delight that her DK friends expressed in meeting her in person.
The day after her too-early death, Meteor Blades wrote:
Having compassion not just for human beings but also for animals is all part of seeking a transformation of politics-as-usual. Tricia made that point for us every day when she was able. In that way, and adding a touch of goofy humor to the mix, was how she built community, day after day after day. She, in fact, epitomized community.
We remember you, we miss you, and we give thanks for your presence among us.
I truly wish it were possible in this post to feature the work of every one of the 144 wonderful Daily Kos members who contributed to our Community. I hope you will take the time to review the Google sheet, if you like. I hope even more that you will add your own remembrances in the comments.