Reub's journey

21 July 2010

Barry

A man I never met in person passed away yesterday, and I am as sad as if I had lost a friend and neighbor. Barry Fraser's blog "An Explorer's View of Life" was the first blog I ever read regularly, and the first one that I followed officially. Barry's kindness, generosity, and humor radiated from the words he wrote. His daily walks with his springer spaniel, Lindsay, became rollicking, adventure-filled tales of wonder.

Barry's courage and wit made him a hero, even to the very end of the battle with cancer. So many folks like myself feel this loss, and I know in my sadness that I am part of a wider community.


Barry's favorite quote appeared at the bottom of his postings:


We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.”

- T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets


11 comments:

  1. Beautifully expressed. What an indelible mark he left on this blogging community.

    With you in the sorrow of losing Barry.

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  2. Lovely tribute and the quote seems very appropriate. I'm sorry I never read his blog as it sounds wonderful.

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  3. in true blogger-community style, i found barry through you, kerry, and even with that tangential connection, i am affected by this news. what a warm, funny, sweet man he came across as. also feeling so sad today...

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  4. I'm so sorry. I read about him on Natalie's blog. He was a follower of mine, and I of his--at least for a while in my case--but I didn't really have a friendship with him It sounds strange, no doubt, but I kept thinking that I would someday.

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  5. He was (is) a remarkable man, isn't he?

    *so sad today*

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  6. Kerry, this is a beautiful post and tribute to Barry. It is interesting how many of us have met through the blog world & through Barry in particular. I love that you put his favorite quote in the post.

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  7. I am so sad too. I was just stunned and will miss him.

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  8. You found an apt quote for Barry the Explorer.

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  9. Ah. How many of us have called Barry a hero? What a great man. Beautifully written, Kerry.

    hugs-
    Patience

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  10. Hi, Kerry. I am visiting your lovely blog thanks to the kind comment left at mine and, what can I say, any friend of Barry’s is a friend of mine, so I have signed up to follow. If you want to see the posts I did on our much appreciated and missed Barry, you can see them here.

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