mikeash.com: just this guy, you know?

Posted at 2008-02-22 01:49 | RSS feed (Full text feed) | Blog Index
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Tags: eulogy
Goodbye, Nibs
by Mike Ash  

This post is to say goodbye to nibs. Not the kind you create with Interface Builder.

Nibs was a kind fellow who hung out in #macdev. He knew his stuff and taught classes about it.

At WWDC '06 I was hanging out with a group of fellow developers, some I knew and some I didn't. Among them was this enormous but oddly gentle black fellow. He was positively towering. I had to look up to him the way most people have to look up to me.

One of the guys I knew said to me quietly, "You know that's nibs?"

He was a far cry from the small pasty white nerd I was sure I'd find after knowing him on IRC. After all, everybody on IRC is a small pasty white nerd, except for the few who are tall skinny pasty white nerds.

We hung out a few times that week, in between the sessions and after the end of the day's conferencing. I really enjoyed his company and I like to think he enjoyed mine. I looked forward to seeing him next time fate threw us together.

That first time I met him was also the last.

I don't know what happened, just that my friend nibs, who I knew for a week in the summer of 2006, died this past weekend.

We'll miss you, and I hope you find yourself in a better place.

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Comments:

Wow. I met him at WWDC as well, and being how young I was he helped me along and encouraged me to go to the #macdev dinner. His presence, even though I didn't know him well at all, made the entire experience more enjoyable. Thanks, nibs.

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