Wednesday, March 16, 2011

RIP starman

Back in the very early 90s I used to call a lot of BBS systems. My favourite was The Town Crier, which ran Wayne Bell's WWIV software. I think most systems at the time (90 - 92) did. I was new to this town, so it helped me get acquainted with people and such. Back then I was Bonzo Macgillicuddy -- a handle rattled off by my good friend Gideon when I asked him what I should use. I have to admit that I certainly was a bit of a thorn in the side of local sysops. Crashing boards (sorry, Crystal!), being a consummate troll (YHBT YHL HAND) who would post the most outlandish rubbish as fact and many other activities. Nonetheless, I had my Apple IIe and my 1200 baud modem and I enjoyed interacting with the BBS crowd. I have very good friends from those days to this very minute. In more maudlin moments I miss those times greatly.


Dave McWhorter went by the handle starman on The Town Crier. I remember he had the same kind of sense of humour as I did and that he enjoyed a good prank. We both had USENET access back then, so I'm sure that had some kind of effect on us. I remember the last time I saw him, which I suppose is about 3 years ago now. He and his brother gave me some bowling tips that actually improved my meager game. He taught me a lot about packet radio -- more than I wanted to know, actually.


I remember.