THE ABYSSINIAN PRINCE #348

May 23, 2014


Jim Burgess, 664 Smith Street, Providence, RI 02908-4327 USA, (401)351-0287, jfburgess of gmail.com


E-MAIL/WEB ONLY ISSUE! PDF will be available on the website. We also are being reproduced in Eternal Sunshine.


Web Page Address: http://www.diplom.org/DipPouch/Postal/Zines/TAP/index.html


A SAD DAY FOR EVERYONE IN THE HOBBY - DON WILLIAMS (1957-2014) PASSES AWAY
We dedicate this issue to Don's memory.


We continue with Kendo Nagasaki, join ANY time, just send me a guess!!!
This issue continues the szine/subszine inversion. As most of you know, this thing began as a ßubszine" to Terry Tallman's North Sealth, West George, then became its own szine with a host of subszines. The subszines remaining will appear as sub-subszines to our new flipflopped home in Doug Kent's Eternal Sunshine. Doug's incessant nagging is not keeping us on schedule, but will make it so we keep going. I'd like to keep writing and doing some game GMing (note that has been expanding). I'm set on the GMing, and I'm starting to write a bit, hope there might be more.
For production, in addition to the HTML's of each separate product on the web page, I will also have a PDF that you can print of the entire subszine (including my famous handdrawn maps!). You can just print the maps if you like, but remember maps are for pikers anyway, you don't need no steenkin' maps, keep them up in your head where they belong.
General information about the mailing list is at: http://www.diplom.org/mailman/listinfo/tap You can sign up from there, or send E-Mails to: Tap-request of diplom.org; with the word `help' in the subject or body (don't include the quotes), and you will get back a message with instructions. You must know your password to change your options (including changing the password, itself) or to unsubscribe.


THE ABYSSINIAN PRINCE FEATURES SECTION (CONS/LETTERS/MUSIC)
((For upcoming cons around the world: http://diplom.org/Face/cons/index.php, but note that some of the Americans have stopped posting the tournaments there. Shame, shame, shame... The Chicago hobby continues on its active track: they had a great CODCon and Weasel Moot is coming up on July 26th and 27th. Although we know that Carnage in Vermont will end off the Nor'Easter sequence of events the first weekend in November, the rest of the year in the Northeast is clarifying slowly. Cheers to Christian Pedone and the Philly crowd for organizing a patriotic July 4-6 Philly Massacre again this year. The website is at www.philadelphiamassacre.com, check it out. Rob Premus hasn't said anything about his tournament though either. But expect updates in this space... of course the big upcoming tournament, that I am missing as we speak, is World DipCon at DixieCon on Memorial Day weekend.))


NEW FEATURE: ROCK AND ROLL BANDS AND MOMENTS THAT MATTER
Andy Bate (Tue, May 20, 2014 at 4:27 AM)
Also thanks for pointing me in the direction of Human Switchboard - had a listen on Spotify and enjoyed what I heard.
I've got Enter The Haggis lined up for later, but currently I'm listening to James Taylor's Greatest Hits which Doug mentioned.
Wonder how many peeps on the ES mailing list do Spotify? Collaborative playlist could be fun. And article material.
Andy, andydbate of gmail.com
((Thanks for commenting, Andy, I'm taking a break this month from adding an additional moment, but that's good for adding Andy's question, also to the TAP list. If anyone from TAP or ES has ideas here let me know. I do have five or six ideas lined up here already that I just have to write. As a lookahead, the Ossipee Valley Music Festival, that is a couple of miles west of my Maine lake camp, is coming up at the end of July, http://www.ossipeevalley.com/ and the lineup is looking great for that.))


DIPLOMACY WORLD CUP TOURNAMENT IS ONGOING - YOU CAN STILL JOIN!
This is the latest incarnation of this team based tournament. I am helping to lead the Nor'Easter team for people in the Northeast part of the United States. https://www.facebook.com/groups/123795024327261/ is the Facebook page for the event.
And you can sign up for the Tournament at: http://aqmn.asciiking.com/. Other US regional teams are the ones in the Pacific, Dixie, and Chicago. Its unique aspect, that continues to be distorting, but in interesting ways, is its "solo only" feature. You advance from the preliminaries to the finals only by soloing, and then need solos in the finals against the other soloists. Though this started last January, it probably will be going on for at least another year, and there is PLENTY of time to jump in. As usual, for those who know me well, I screwed up my first game and allowed a solo to someone from team US. And then I could have soloed the second game, but well, I can't exactly say how I did it, but the Canadian player soloed there, with help from me. I still don't have a solo in over three decades, and now I'm waiting for my next game to start, you can join and get more games going!!! You can easily throw games, and in this format you can do it. I wonder why people like to drop the levels of the game in this way. It fascinates me. But in the finals of this tournament, it shouldn't happen, should it? The rules for the finals have been tweaked and the finals SHOULD start any day now. But you still can join the qualifiers, openings are there now!!!


THE ABYSSINIAN PRINCE LETTERS SECTION
Paul Rauterberg (Sat, May 17, 2014 at 12:27 AM)
My condolences go out to all friends/co-players of Don Williams. (Including myself) This was the first notice that I had that he was even ill; I'm rather "out of touch" these days. It is another reminder of our own mortality.
- Paul, paul.rauterberg of att.net


Vince Lutterbie (Sat, May 17, 2014 at 2:50 AM)
Well, that certainly is lousy news. I enjoyed knowing Don even more than playing against him. He was always very kind and considerate to my wife and me. I will miss him.
Vince, melvin4852 of sbcglobal.net


Drew James (Sat, May 17, 2014 at 1:53 PM)
Horrible news about Don. I didn't know him well, but given the complexity of the moves in PRM we spoke on the phone a few times and exchanged regular emails. The first time we tried to hook up over the phone he got confused about the time given the different coasts we live on and ended up calling me late (our time) at night and my wife answered as I was asleep. The next morning she told me how nice and pleasant Don was just based on their brief exchange. He definitely was a strong player. In PRM, I (England) was able to go after him right from the get go with support from Germany. I couldn't believe how he was able to hang on by coordination with Italy! Eventually I turned on Germany and he and I ended up in an alliance in order to hold off the eastern powers. He always took the long view; made sure that neither of us was in a position to stab the other; and made strong move suggestions. I was shocked to find out that he was withdrawing from the games and we exchanged email afterwards which is when I learned of the terrible news. I wish I had known him better and longer.
Drew, karelanddrew of gmail.com


Mike Barno (Sat, May 17, 2014 at 8:33 PM)
Am most sorry to hear of the loss of our friend. Fun, creative, helpful.
Mike, mpbarno of gmail.com
((Thanks, Mike, Vince, Paul, and Drew. Examples of how we all feel. Some time before Don's diagnosis, we'd been praying really, really hard for Mark Fassio. I'm glad that Mark is with us and has written me something. Thanks, Mark, I'm STILL praying really, really hard for you. As many of you know, Mark partly writes for me too, ***MY*** birthday and birth year is precisely one month later than Don's.))


Mark Fassio (Mon, May 19, 2014 at 3:44 PM)
If it Walks Like a Duck and Quacks Like a Duck...
...then we're talking about Donald "Duck" Williams, Dip Player Extraordinaire and Friend Supreme.
Twin Sons of Different Mothers. For those of you who remember pop singer Dan Fogelberg, he cut an album of the same name with a fellow named Tim Weisberg. While the LP wasn't exactly a barn-burner, the title described the strange symbiotic relationship I had with Don. In many ways, we were indeed cut from the same bolt of cloth. Don and I shared August birthdays within a week of each other, and we were a year apart in age. Unfortunately for both of us, cancer hit us both at 56. I was diagnosed with Stage IV appendix cancer on my birthday in 2012; Don got the bad news about his advanced kidney cancer a year later, on his birthday on 2013. Eerie, to say the least. Both of us did well with initial chemo, and both of us had a flare-up afterwards. My cancer was always predicted to return, perhaps in a few years; it came back in less than three months. Don's never went away, but just got worse. And so I type this eulogy with an immense load of Survivor's Guilt, that it was him that went, and not me.
((Let me just pound home here, Mark, that we are REALLY glad that we and Margie still have you around!!! No matter how awful cancer is, we have to salute the survivors.))
Don and I were gamers early on in the Golden Age of Dip, and, after we "clicked" in some early postal games, he and his son came to visit my wife and I when we were stationed in California. From there we forged quite a friendship, with Drama Galore. When we were "in synch" we spent hundreds of dollars in phone bills (pre-email days, for you young whippersnappers), talking for hours about the games, then digressing to a million different stream-of-consciousness topics. I think I talked to Don more than I did to my then-fiancée (now wife) - but don't tell her that. We talked tactics, we talked profiles of our foes, and we learned each others' strengths and weaknesses; those came into play against enemies and, occasionally, when we decided to stab each other in games. Coupled with those talks and letters (God, did we ever write letters; a lost art now!) were the Cons we’d attend: DixieCon, with Jim-Bob, Kathy Caruso and the gang, and the DC cons (some sort of "tea society" name, if I recall... damn chemo-brain, anyway).
The high point in the Fassio-Williams gaming era came in a 1988(?) game with Melinda Holley and three others who I can't remember to save my skin (with the chemo I take, I’m lucky to just remember my own name, let alone the year of the game). Don and I formed my favorite alliance (R/T) and we were getting pounded by the board. We easily traded centers and shared info just to stay alive and, lo and behold, we stormed back to a tense 17-17 tie. From that game I used to think we were Diplomacy's version of the Hindenburg-Ludendorff team in WW1. That being said, we were both emotional, quick-to-flare types –- his Irishness and my Italian-ness were like oil and water sometimes. So there were instances when we would stop talking to each other, or threw acrimonious darts at each other over some game slight -– I will readily admit that the majority of thrown darts were from me, which he either deftly parried or mercifully ignored. I remember that he and Jim O'Kelley (and Steve Emmert) decided to hose me at one `Con because of a previous lucky game I solo'ed (with Steve’s help and mercy). I had a hard time understanding a Diplomacy Basic Premise - that you could and should separate "personal friendship" and "game friendship" at times. I look back now on those instances as part of my Really Dumb Experiences, when I was a younger fool than I am currently.
That being said, for every rip in our fabric when we'd have an issue, we always sewed it back together and weaved a stronger fabric. He was a true gentleman and a tremendous player - especially in FTF environments -– and today is a sad day to be typing this in a "memorial" capacity. He was taken way too early, and the fabric is split for many a year to come, unfortunately.
Don, I know you and Walkerdine and Calhamer and all the others are up there around a board right now. I’m not sure when Death is going to cash in my chips at the table, but when he does, save me a seat next to you. Just don't make me Austria.
Semper the best, old pal, Mark Fassio, faz of twc.com
((Thanks, Faz! Keep fighting and let us know if there is anything else we can do for you! We don't need you to join that celestial game too soon. You allude to the petty arguments, and I know I was in there too for awhile. Life is altogether too short for us all. Don was always a real gentleman, and as Drew notes above, he had a way of charming all of our lady friends. Don was Charlotte's favorite of my Diplomacy friends, and we never got to meet Stacey in person, since we had to cancel the trip we had planned when Charlotte's mother passed away. Just makes you remember not to delay doing the things that really matter.))


THE ABYSSINIAN PRINCE GAMES SECTION
I am continuing to note cut or failed support orders with a small "s" instead of a capital "S". This will make it easier on the E-Mailed version of the szine to see what happened, since the italics don't show there. The italics DO show on the web page just fine. Since I'm not postal mailing the szine any more, I've dropped back to just reporting the disguised E-Mail addresses. As someone notes, if you need some more contact information, go back to past issues or ask me.
Standby lists:
Dick Martin, Brad Wilson, Jack McHugh, Steve Emmert, Vince Lutterbie, Paul Rauterberg, Doug Kent, Heath Gardner, Paul Kenny, and Hugh Polley stand by for regular Diplomacy. I've pared down the standby list according ot who I'm actually in touch with. If I removed you and you want to be added back, just say so. Otherwise, just let me know if you want on or off these lists, especially OFF given the new policies.


GAME OPENING INFORMATION
I'm going to start the game opening list over. Under the new regime, who wants to play what?
DIPLOMACY: I would love to run Spy Diplomacy again some time, any interest in that? Something else?? Another Regular Diplomacy game? I would like to start one that at least informally is a memorial to Don.
SPY DIPLOMACY: Heath Gardner, need six more.
REGULAR DIPLOMACY: need seven, I really want to restart from the game that we had to stop.


THE PHIL REYNOLDS MEMORIAL: 2006B, Regular Diplomacy
THE DUE DATE FOR FALL 1910 IS JUNE 14TH, 2014
MELINDA HOLLEY TAKES OVER THE FRENCH POSITION BY REQUEST FROM DON
Summer 1910
AUSTRIA (Burgess): has a BUD, f BUL(SC), a VIE, a TRI, a SER.
ENGLAND (James): has f NWG, a DEN, f BAR, a FIN, a PRU, a STP, f NTH, f ION, f GOB, a KIE,
f APU, f BAL.
FRANCE (Holley): R f ion-TUN; has f TYH, f GOL, a MAR, a MUN, a VEN,
f ADR, a BER, f TUN, a TYO.
ITALY (Crow): has a GRE.
RUSSIA (Gardner): has a MOS, a SIL, a WAR, a BOH, f EAS, f LVN.


E-Mail Addresses of the Participants
AUSTRIA: David Burgess, burgesscd of roadrunner.com or dburgess of glensfallshosp.org
ENGLAND: Drew James, kjames01 of twcny.rr.com or karelanddrew of gmail.com
FRANCE: New Player is Melinda Holley,
GERMANY: Marc Ellinger, mellinger of blitzbardgett.com
ITALY: John Crow, johnny.crow of hotmail.com
RUSSIA: Heath Gardner (aka Heath Davis-Gardner), heath.gardner of gmail.com
TURKEY: Fred Wiedemeyer, wiedem of telus.net or wiedem of shaw.ca


Game Notes:
1) There is some talk of draw voting again, remember, draws need to be anonymously voted and unanimous. I've heard discussion of DIAS, as well as more limited options. Feel free to work something out before the next deadline.
2) Don asked Melinda to take over for him here, and of course that's more than fine with me.


Press:


PRINCE OF DARKNESS: 2013D, Regular Diplomacy
WE ARE DONE BY MUTUAL ASSENT - WE MOURN IN DON'S MEMORY
GAME ENDS WITHOUT ENDING


E-Mail Addresses of the Participants
AUSTRIA: Scott Allen, scottdjallen of gmail.com
ENGLAND: Brad Wilson, fullfathomfive675 of gmail.com
FRANCE: Don Williams, the good reason for deciding not to continue
GERMANY: Doug Kent, dougray30 of yahoo.com
ITALY: Mike Ruttinger, mruttinger of gmail.com
RUSSIA: Bob Slossar, bobsloss of comcast.net
TURKEY: Heath Gardner (aka Heath Davis-Gardner), heath.gardner of gmail.com


Game Notes:
1) As I think you all knew, the Prince of Darkness press story was from Don. This will be a legacy last tale from him. Unfortunately, we only had twelve parts of it. I know it gave him a lot of pleasure pondering it as he went through his cancer therapy, and we talked about it a great deal.


Press:
None, but feel free to write something about the end of the game if you want for me to print.


FOR THE MEKONS ET AL.: Breaking Away, Designer's Rules
THE DUE DATE FOR TURN 6 IS JUNE 14, 2014!!
Turn 5: All the Initial Sprint Points are Claimed
63 (replenish with a 3) Ernie Davis
62 (replenish with a 4) Larry Csonka
61 (no replenishment) None
60 (no replenishment) None
59 (no replenishment) None
58 (no replenishment) None
57 (no replenishment) None
56 (replenish with a 3) Dziewulski(1)
55 (no replenishment) None
54 (no replenishment) None
53 (no replenishment) None
52 (no replenishment) None
51 (replenish with a 3) Travis
50 (no replenishment) None
49 (replenish with a 3) Peeta Mellark, Haymitch Abernathy, Houston
48 (replenish with a 6) Bowie
47 (no replenishment) None
46 (replenish with a 3) Sam Vimes, CMOT Dibbler, Jim Brown
45 (no replenishment) None
44 (replenish with a 3) Mustrum Ridcully, Effie Trinket, Arciszewski
43 (replenish with a 6) Cwierczakiewiczowa
42 (replenish with a 7) Moist von Lipwig, Katniss Everdeen(2)
41 (no replenishment) None
-S-P-R-I-N-T- -F-I-N-I-S-H- -L-I-N-E-
40 (replenish with a 3) Crockett
39 (no replenishment) None
38 (no replenishment) None
37 (no replenishment) None
36 (replenish with a 3) Barszczewski, Sylvester Carmouche
35 (replenish with a 5) Roberto Rojas,
34 (replenish with a 6) Jean Van de Velde
33 (replenish with a 7) Ryan Leaf, Floyd Little


Addresses of the Participants - Their Team and Their Cards
TEAM 1 (Hank Alme): cobblers of gmail.com (0 points)
Team Name: Vetinari's Terriers; TEAM CAPTAIN: Sam Vimes
A: Moist von Lipwig (13) 9, 12, 7
B: Mustrum Ridcully (16) 10, 11, 3
C: Sam Vimes (15) 5, 7, 3
D: CMOT Dibbler (15) 3, 7, 3
Total Replenishments: 47 + 32 + 30 + 42 + 16 = 167
TEAM 2 (Andy Bate): andydbate of gmail.com (0 points)
Team Name: Racing Froggy; TEAM CAPTAIN: Jean Van de Velde
A: Jean Van de Velde (5) 14, 12, 6
B: Roberto Rojas (6) 7, 12, 5
C: Sylvester Carmouche (8) 6, 16, 3
D: Ryan Leaf (4) 15, 12, 7
Total Replenishments: 18 + 29 + 42 + 52 + 21 = 162
TEAM 3 (David Burgess): burgesscd of roadrunner.com or dburgess of glensfallshosp.org (19 points)
Team Name: Syracuse Orangemen
A: Ernie Davis (15) 3, 5, 3, 3
B: Jim Brown (3) 12, 6, 3
C: Floyd Little (5) 15, 16, 7
D: Larry Csonka (7) 6, 3, 4
Total Replenishments: 79 + 55 + 19 + 29 + 17 = 199
TEAM 4 (Rick Desper): rick_desper of yahoo.com (19 points)
Team Name: District 12
A: Katniss Everdeen (3) 15, 18, 7, 7
B: Haymitch Abernathy (3) 21, 3, 3
C: Peeta Mellark (3) 23, 3, 3
D: Effie Trinket (3) 24, 3, 3
Total Replenishments: 92 + 90 + 16 + 12 + 16 = 226
TEAM 5 (Brendan Whyte): BWHYTE of nla.gov.au (1 point)
Team Name: The Reverse Polish Notationists (a.k.a. The Unpronounceables)
A: Arciszewski (11) 9, 3, 3, 3
B: Barszczewski (4) 3, 3, 3
C: Cwierczakiewiczowa (11) 5, 4, 6
D: Dziewulski (19) 3, 3, 3
Total Replenishments: 50 + 46 + 14 + 14 + 15 = 139
TEAM 6 (Andy York): (0 points)
Team Name: Team Alamo
A: Travis (21) 12, 9, 10, 3
B: Crockett (8) 3, 4, 3
C: Bowie (18) 5, 10, 6
D: Houston (18) 3, 7, 3
Total Replenishments: 44 + 65 + 20 + 31 + 15 = 175


Game Notes:
1) The rules are on the TAP website in the Tinamou section. Ask if you have any questions. Rules at:
http://diplom.org/DipPouch/Postal/Zines/TAP/Tinamou/rules/BreakingAway.htm
Up above in parentheses is the card you played to get to where you are in the field. The replenishment card is the last card in your list. Be careful to note that the card you played (the one in parentheses) is not available for you, for next turn. Just for fun, I keep track of total replenishment, by turn, which is a rough measure of how the teams are doing. Of course, it is lining up to get across the sprint (40/80) and final (120) lines in the right places that really counts. We can calculate an "efficiency score" later, which will be the ratio of scoring points per replenishment. If I'm predicting how the future of this will come out based on doing this before, about half the players will get scores below 5% and getting better than a 10% score will be really tremendous for this measure.
2) The last sprint points are claimed, the pack is still all jumbled, and we likely have our first pack dropped rider (I keep everyone on the track regardless of how far they are dropped, and he might yet be saved with help). Only Andy Bate gets over 20 in total turn replenishment, and that just barely.


Press:
(BOOB to RIDERS): But no press...


WHERE IN THE WORLD IS KENDO NAGASAKI
THE DUE DATE FOR TURN 5 IS JUNE 14, 2014!!
Kendo Nagasaki games in Eternal Sunshine continue to multiply like weeds... I'd like to get more people engaged here, not just the usual suspects from Doug's games. The full rules for Where in the World is Kendo Nagasaki are in: http://www.whiningkentpigs.com/DW/es58.pdf. The player who was closest for Turn 4 has been notified by E-Mail.

TURN 4
Brendan Whyte: Tom Howell:
Mrs Al Gore in Ascención, Paraguay Michelle Obama's husband in Cochabamba, Bolivia

Heath Gardner: Doug Kent:
No Guess this Time Bob Barker in Santiago, Chile

Rick Desper: Kevin Wilson:
Hillary Clinton in Lima, Peru No Guess this Time

Hank Alme: Mike Ruttinger
Katie Couric in Sao Paulo, Brazil Dennis Rodman in Bogotá, Colombia

Steen Alme: Edi Birsan
Hillary Clinton in Bogotá, Colombia President Obama in Honolulu, Hawaii

HINT to the Person with the Closest Geographic Guess: OK, but I am part of a larger group than that.

TURN 3
Brendan Whyte: Tom Howell:
Diana Rigg in Anchorage, Alaska Michelle Obama in Valparaiso, Chile

Heath Gardner: Doug Kent:
Gov. Chris Christie in Hamhung, North Korea Mark David Chapman in San Francisco, CA

Rick Desper: Kevin Wilson:
Stephen Colbert in Brasilia, Brazil Stephen Colbert in Santiago, Chile

Hank Alme: Mike Ruttinger
Landon Donovan in Quito, Ecuador Tom Brokaw in Caracas, Venezuela

Steen Alme:
Al Gore in Buenos Aires, Argentina

HINT to the Person with the Closest Geographic Guess: Oooh, I think you have the wrong gender, try again.

TURN 2
Brendan Whyte: Tom Howell:
Diana Rigg in Pyongyang, North Korea Jennifer Jones in New York, New York

Heath Gardner: Doug Kent:
Henry Kissinger in Sao Paulo, Brazil Harrison Ford in Mexico City, Mexico

Rick Desper: Kevin Wilson:
Zsa Zsa Gabor in Beverly Hills, CA Dennis Rodman in La Paz, Bolivia

Hank Alme: Mike Ruttinger
Stephen Ambrose in Seattle, WA Scarlett Johansson in Havana, Cuba

Steen Alme:
Kim Jong-Un in Sevastopol, Ukraine

HINT to the Person with the Closest Geographic Guess: While I also have appeared on television in some form, I have done so for different reasons than you.

TURN 1
Brendan Whyte: Tom Howell:
Diana Rigg in Anchorage, Alaska Rex Roberts in Alexandria, Egypt

Heath Gardner: Doug Kent:
Jimmy "the Greek" in Las Vegas, NV Charlton Heston in Rome, Italy

Rick Desper: Kevin Wilson:
Eddie "the Eagle" Edwards in Sochi, Russia Pierre Trudeau in Montevideo, Uruguay

Hank Alme: Mike Ruttinger
Ian Fleming in Tegucigalpa, Honduras George McArthur in Seoul, South Korea

HINT to the Person with the Closest Geographic Guess: Unfortunately, you are very much dead, while I am very much alive.


LAST WORD: I have decided to say a few remembrance things now, and do more in the July Diplomacy World, and I encourage all of you to write for that too that knew Don and want to leave a record of your thoughts. Cancer, especially cancer like this, comes so quickly and it seems we had so little time as Don's friends to come to terms with this. My first time meeting Don in person was some time in the 1980's, but I'm not entirely sure when precisely it was. I was in Los Angeles for something or other, and I rented a car and drove out into the Valley where he lived at the time and met up with him for most of a day. Like Mark Fassio, I had many phone calls and long letters exchanged before that, and we hit it off very quickly. Through much of the last thirty years, Don and I have been very close inside and outside the hobby. Today, I wanted just to offer a couple of brief vignettes. One of our great capers of all time was the exposure of Harry Andruschak as Sara Reichert. Harry was a horrible (well, not very good) Diplomacy player, and he lived with the Reichert family in California. He invented a new Reichert daughter named Sara and playing under that pseudonym won a whole slew of postal games. Harry was GREAT as Sara. Don Williams and I suspected that something was up in the relationship between Sara and Harry, so I went to California, and we went to "Sara Reichert's" house. And there we hit luck and found Harry and his landlady both there, so we could force out the full story! Harry took it well, and plotting and executing it took up hours on the phone with Don. Then, more recently, after I bought my summer house in Maine, and decided to build a swingset in the back for my granddaughter, Emily. Don was visiting and I went out there to "start" building it from the kit. Don could tell that I really had no idea what I was doing (including deciding where to put it, I put one end of it within a foot on one side or the other of the property line - I just bought the land next door, so which side that end is on no longer matters), but he just chuckled and helped me get started. Don and my wife Charlotte did lots and lots of innocent flirting over the years, which always USED to remind me that Don hadn't really found the love of his life - I ***KNEW*** he hadn't. But he finally found Stacey and even though I never managed to meet her, I was so happy that Don finally found the right person for him. Damn, it just wasn't fair that Don had so little of that last part of his life, but lived it to the fullest, I know that. We will miss you, terribly, terribly, big guy!


File translated from TEX by TTH, version 3.85.
On 26 May 2014, 22:47.