RIP - Gil Harvey

Gil was a good man, and he had a lot to do with the success of these forums. A LOT.

He and I didn't always agree or play nicely together, but he was always willing to forgive and forget. And he was always there.

I met Gil when OutFront was using a single FP disc group.  I think it was late 1998. He happened upon the site and decided to try to sell me a merchant account. I wasn't ready at the time, but I suggested that there might be some folks on the disc group that would buy if he was willing to post some good info there. That was one of the best things that ever happened to OutFront and to me.

It was about a year later that our first ever flame war happened. Somebody got mad at Gil and posted something mean about him. What happened next was probably the most amazing thing I have ever seen on on the Net. There was reply after reply by folks who Gil had helped in the past. Everyone went to bat for him. I don't remember how many posts there were in defense of Gil, but it was certainly the longest thread we had ever seen at that time.

The incident showed that this place was a real community. One fellow got so excited by it that he set up a conference call and invited some of the more active folks on the board to participate. Those people became the original OutFrot Mods when we moved to the UBB format. Gil was an original Mod, and he always took his job seriously. He set an example for the community. OutFront would not have been able to reach and maintain the kind of quality you see here without Gil's honesty, courage, and magnanimity. I will miss that. The OutFront community will miss it terribly. The good news is that he has inspired so many to do great things on the Net. Gil will live on through their achievements and the way they conduct themselves with others.

Thomas Brunt