R.I.P. Drake the Dragon

 Bit shaken after having become aware, earlier tonight, of an internet friend's passing, over a week after it happened. (It didn't help that LJ dutifully reminded me of his birthday just the other day...obviously no response to my unknowing well wishes.)

Though we never met in person, he'd been a followed friend since early in the Internet era, in the mid-nineties, with much fun having been had with the Doctor Who fan gang in #drwhochat, the IRC channel he'd founded. We were an eclectic, diverse bunch, and very open and accepting, all with a love of Doctor Who in common.

While I haven't followed the fortunes of all the regulars from there since IRC stopped being a Thing, I did keep in touch with a number of them, including some who made the migration to Face Book, as George had.

George Solana (Drake online) didn't get out; by that I mean that over the years, while he met at least a couple of the IRC gang when they were able to drop by and visit him in Florida, he never got out to meet the majority of the denizens from #drwhochat in person.

Even so, the salutatory effect that his creation of #drwhochat, a sort of virtual Doctor Who-themed Callahan's Crosstime Saloon, had on many of his fellow fans cannot be understated.

You done good, Dragon. Thanks for creating the place that helped hold all that fellowship and all those memories.

Virtual though you remained to most of us...your presence *will* be missed.