Saturday, April 2, 2011

The End

Today my father, author of this blog, passed away from complications related to lung cancer.

It was only about 1 ½ years ago I set up this blog for him as a birthday present. He was always impossible to find a gift for and I was hoping that this might help him full the void left with he was laid off of his editorial writer job at the paper. It turned out better than I had ever dared hope.

Soon he was writing three to four times a week and was so excited anytime his hit counter incremented. During one of our many phone conversations he even mentioned that it was the best present I had even got him.

Though this blog I learned things about him I never knew. Sometimes I felt like he was writing just to me to tell me something he never got around to or did not know how to say in person. But really he was just a great writer and a truly amazing guy that had some enteraining things to say.

I am sure he would want his readers to know he had not abandoned them but instead been forced into yet another form of retirement. I in turn wanted to thank every one who pushed his hit counter up you can not know how much enjoyment he got out of writing these and thinking that maybe someone out that was enjoying reading it too.

10 comments:

  1. Goodbye Bill. You will be missed.

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  2. My father, Bill Skidmore, was the most intelligent and at the same time stubborn man. He raised my brother and myself to be the same way, and I thank him for that. He was an encouraging man to us both as well as to my daughter Keegan. Very much a quiet guy, but you could know what he was thinking through his facial expressions. He spoke better through his writing with his strong vocabulary, his dry wit, and his extreme knowledge of what he was trying to say. Like it or not.

    My father will forever be the most influencial person in my life. And I love that many others were able to exeperience him through his blog, his newspaper at the Independant Record in Helena MT, as well as anyone who would lend an ear to hear his thoughts and ideas of the goings of the world and life. The good, the bad, and the ugly. He never held back.

    He will be missed, but it is a comfort to know in some way he touched other people lives. He would be smiling if he knew he made us think, made us laugh, or made us mad! That was my dad.

    Goodbye Skid!

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  3. I'm sorry for the loss of your father.

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  4. I'm sorry for your loss. Although, I don't think I ever commented, I enjoyed reading his posts.

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  5. I miss waking up in the morning, turning on my computer, clicking on this site and seeing of what Bill thought of the night before. Mostly, I miss seeing my husband's smile or even laugh out loud at what his dad scripted. Selfishly Don and I created this blog so that we could step into your life. You guarded yourself and only allowed small windows of opportunities for us to get in. We were grateful for each moment.
    Bill, it doesn't get easier. I miss you. I only knew you for a short time, but I loved you. I loved watching you and Don talk about string theory or listening to your phone conversations. I miss listening to Don talk to you every Sunday morning.
    Thank you for entertaining my silly questions during your last days. I just wanted extend our time. Know that I promise to make Don happy and love him for the rest of our lives.
    Where ever you are....dirt is what you would say, although I know better. You are watching us. Know that you are missed.

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  6. Who would have ever thought that you would spend so much time researching for topics to blog about. The myriad of magazines ranging from the Skeptical Thinker to MADD to Harper's to Scientific America to The New Yorker AND really who knows what else will make its way to our mail box. Bill, this is our final way of communicating with you. It is yet another glimpse into your world.
    There are so many things that we didn't get to say. Watching Don miss your voice is overwhelming at times. Makes me think wish we took some home videos of you. We keep coming to this site daily. Wanting and wishing the hit counter increases.
    Funny thing is thinking about the troubles you endured posting these entries. Thinking that the new computer would ease the woes of posting, but really it simply complicated things. So many stellar memories and so much lost time. Today I was thinking about the last trip to Montana. Your smile as the Montana sun touched you is what I will remember today.
    Keep watching us, we need it.

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  7. I am sorry for your loss but what a wonderful gift idea. I am sure he must have cherished it as his prolific output shows. Just having an outlet to vent our thoughts makes a huge positive difference to our lives.

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  8. Dear Mr. Skidmore: Tonight I found your Father's blog. What a privilege it is to be able to share his thoughts. I'm about his age, I think, so it's close to my bedtime, but you can be sure that I'll be back to read more.

    Nancy Dryden Lorieau
    Edmonton

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  9. I arrived here through a link on G+. First, what a wonderful gift to have given your father, and what a wonderful gift he gave to the rest of us, in turn, with this blog. I have read the first and last posts and only wish I had discovered it earlier! I also hope it remains for some time as I am a dreadfully slow reader and it appears Bill was quite prolific!

    Best wishes,
    Lara

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