Wow! Well said.
Chuck Norcutt
Ken Norton wrote:
>> O.T: Although I never talked to Walt, I will think of him also - he
>> sure seems to have made a difference around here...
>>
>
>
> We've got a few people that "channel" him once in a while. :) Walt's
> influence will live on in the lives of everybody who knew him. He had a way
> of cutting through the BS and getting to the root of things--as well as
> being able to inveigle the conversation with the best of us.
>
> There have been a handful of individuals who really shaped the culture of
> this list. One person who we all looked forward to any and every post was
> George, from Texas. Shall any of us ever forget his story of getting pecked
> by his chickens?
>
> In the real early days of the OM list, there was a preponderance of serious
> tech-heads. The engineering brains on the list read like the "Who's Who" of
> engineering doctorates. My first year was spent observing and absorbing. (I
> was completely out of my league) It was a pretty analytical place.
> Eventually, we got the FAQ put together and once we essentially got the OM
> system as documented as is humanly possible there was less technical
> interest and more human interest. It became less about the cameras and more
> about the people.
>
> I distinctly remember my first post. I asked about a big honkin Sigma lens
> (50-500, I think) in OM mount and people's opinion of it. The response was
> the sound of crickets. Not a solitary answer. It was at least a month, maybe
> two before I ever posted again. It was actually our west-coast George
> (SUV-driving, Democrat-hating, anti-Greenpeace George) that got me involved
> in the list as he helped steer us away from being techno-geeks to being
> photographers. Once the list opened up to non-technical issues, it started
> to really take on a life of its own. Without that diversification, the list
> would have died soon after.
>
> Eventually, Walt joined us and his sheer love of photography and life,
> combined with an extremely quick wit and command of the English Language
> helped mold the list into something resembling the television show "Cheers".
> It was well on its way to that before Walt joined, but he was what we needed
> at the time.
>
> Where else can one of us just ask just about any question about any subject
> and not only get helpful answers but not get criticized for going off-topic?
> Where else can we intermingle the three great taboos (s*x, p*litics,
> r*ligion) without causing major rifts? Where else can you have
> fighter-bomber pilots and Greenpeace activists hang out without mauling each
> other? Granted, we have our moments, but usually it just takes a bit of wit
> and sarcasm and we're back to normal again.
>
> This list is extremely abnormal. It is unlike anything else I've ever
> encountered on the Internet. Walt, for his years of being with us, helped
> mold it into the current form, and most, if not all, of us are better
> photographers and humans for knowing him.
>
> AG Schnozz
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