Thank you, Phil. I'm so grateful to be here and to help realize Brian's vision.
Thanks also for sharing that memory. The thanks is shared with everyone who is sharing memories of Brian tonight. I never got to meet him, so they help to paint a picture in my mind of the kind of man he was - unique, smart, wise, and keen to help people learn.
May we raise a collective glass to Brian tonight. Please keep your stories coming if you got 'em.
Rosy Wolfe - KJ7RYV Executive Director Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) ampr.org
On 11/21/20 5:28 PM, Phil Karn via 44Net wrote:
On 11/21/20 16:24, Marius Petrescu via 44Net wrote:
One year already... How time flies. Rest in peace old friend.
Yes, I've been thinking about Brian a lot lately. I inherited his personal computer equipment so I'm reminded of him every time I use it. I've been going through his files looking for stuff like photos to give to his family; a sad but necessary task. I almost wish I hadn't gotten his stuff.
At Brian's memorial service, I related a conversation we had about two months before his death as we waited for a shuttle van at the Detroit airport during our trip to the ARRL/TAPR DCC. I was going out on a limb because Brian was probably the least sentimental person I've ever known.
I said that it seemed a sad truth about the human condition that if your thing is to kill and destroy, it's easy to get instant gratification, but those who make the biggest and most lasting contributions to humanity seldom live to see them realized. Brian simply said "that's why I'm starting this foundation now". So I'm especially sad and angry that he did all that hard work to set up ARDC, manage the address sale (and take some brickbats in the process) only to die after seeing just two grants go out.
I wish he could see us now that our grant process is up and running thanks largely to a paid executive director (Rosy Wolfe) who's really hit the ground running. We're already on track to hit our goal of giving $5M/year to a wide range of educational, technology development and amateur radio promotional projects. We've only just started, and we're going to do this indefinitely. All thanks to Brian Kantor's vision.
God damn it, life is short.
73, Phil, KA9Q
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