Fred

Ever since his post on May 10 about Hospice help on his Fred's Humboldt Blog, I've checked local sites and googled his name every week or so, but for some reason I didn't see his June 1 obituary until today.

I never met Fred Mangels and didn't know him personally, only as a Humboldt blogger.  He and I were in the first group of bloggers hereabouts.  Fred reached out to the rest of us and stayed interested---the last time he commented on a post here was just a few months ago.  It was a small group back then, and such was Fred's standing that a half dozen or so of us contributed to buy him a new computer when he sorely needed one.

Fred inspired a certain affection even among those of us who really didn't share his politics.  His blogging voice was unaffected and direct, his approach personal and sincere.  He wrote mostly about local politics and libertarian issues, but he also wrote about daily concerns and other local matters.

In recent years Fred and I had a teasing relationship.  He changed the name of my blog on his blogroll to "Bill's Obama blog."  I changed his on mine to "Fred's Climate Crisis Denial blog."  When he commented here on an Obama post-presidency post, I promised regular posts on the subject just for him.

I may be wrong but Fred and I may have been the only bloggers left of that original group.  Fred's blog was more of a local institution and got aggregated locally.  His blog and his voice will be missed.  May he rest in peace.