Home » Today is the 10th anniversary of FredHJr’s death

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Today is the 10th anniversary of FredHJr’s death — 28 Comments

  1. Neo,

    You do both Fred and us, your readers, a justifiable service by memorializing him each year. Thank you.

    If you have not ever done so, consider informing his widow of your annual memorial posts. I think it would provide her and his family some comfort knowing that he was respected in this cyber community for his insight.

    And yes, it’s difficult to Believe that ten years have passed so quickly.

  2. Very hard to believe it’s been 10 years. I remember his comments as perceptive and well worth reading. RIP FredHJr.

  3. I remember FredHJr and Occam’s Beard; while I’m not a frequent poster I’ve lurked here for many a year, long before Obama’s election in 2008. I think I may have come here from the old Dr. Sanity blog, or perhaps

    In addition to FredHJr, I think of Steven Den Beste of USS Clueless fame – people I’ve never met, but whose words made me think and whose thoughts will be missed, even if I’ve never actually met them.

  4. Yes, Occam’s Beard, another commenter who is sorely missed as is Dr. Sanity’s blog.

  5. I was not, alas, reading your site when he was around, but love that you remember him year after year. Knowing nothing else of him, this makes me wonder and be interested in him. A great testimony, Thank you.

  6. He’s still watching over things, although he has become the ultimate lurker due to the Veil. His higher self is the only one able to authorize any descent now.

  7. Crikey! it seems like that was just yesterday. Time, and our perception of it, can be a very odd thing.

  8. “If we as a people cannot name this accurately and expunge its corrosive influence over our lives, then down into the wages of perdition and disaster we go.”

    I’m going to have to look at some old commentary here and there, and try to place this comment of his in context.

    Grant, that in academia, postmodernism in English and philosophy departments had been an issue for decades, and had received media attention. Grant that “cultural Marxism” was not exactly a new term and that cynical leftists had been on display for years during the Clinton administration.

    Still, 10 years back he seems to have been somewhat ahead of the curve in clearly formulating the problem, when many others on blogs were still struggling to find the right descriptive language, and important and accessible books on the topics were still to be written.

  9. It is a little more than 12 years since Cathy Seipp died.

    I knew her and attended her funeral. She had a blog that quite a few followed and even went to lunch a few times. Hard to believe it is 12 years. Through her I met Andrew Breitbart, another flame quenched who kept the darkness away. I also met Patterico who has developed a near fatal case of TDS and we are not friends any more.

  10. I remember FredHJr, Cathy Siepp, and Aoccam’s Beard fondly. That was back when blogging was fairly new–I had one myself–and the field was wild, undisciplined, raw, and exciting!

    I miss those days. (I’m glad you’re still here, Neo!)

  11. Ten years. Tempus fugit! Here’s to FredHJr. He was a good man. We learned much from him. RIP

  12. I recall a few posts by strcpy. (A C programming language reference.) The others were before my arrival.

    For those who are interested in Fred’s Western Civilization commentary, I’d recommend Rodney Stark’s “How the West Won: The neglected story of the triumph of modernity.” Very opinionated. War, religion, and the origins of the university are featured prominently.

    I used to be an answerer on Yahoo! Answers for a while. It was entertaining, but after a time, I thought to myself, “Why am I doing this?” and stopped. That may have been related to some schmucks who were fishing for solutions to their homework or take-home exam problems.

  13. T:

    Yes, I do keep Fred’s widow informed whenever I have a post on him. She appreciates it that so many people still remember him so fondly.

  14. Gringo:

    FredHJr had been a Marxist—or sort of tried to be a Marxist—in college, but after a year or two he abandoned that notion because (if I’m remembering this correctly) he had realized from some of his other studies that Marxism could never be realized because it was at war with human nature. But he had read widely in Marxist literature and knew a lot about it.

  15. It is a past decade of stinking thinking, selfishness and cowardice, which led to a failure to unite against a too-common and too collective a stalwart leftist foe. FredHJr saw the leftist evil and called it what it was and is.

    On the other side:

    Think about McCain, a pretty cowardly candidate when in the clutches (who once served as a POW in ‘Nam, as if that were relevant), slinking away from the Great Recession in 2008 and leaving the field to Barack Hussein.

    Think of Romney, who should have had Barack Hussein on the ropes in their 2nd debate, but cringed. Because black. The same Barack who celebrated Ramadan in the White House, to no criticism. Because Islam.

    Think of the poor performance by Paul Ryan et al. The Ryan who built a wall around his house while refusing the entire country a southern wall. The least-qualified Speaker ever.

    Think of Bush, taking off his shoes to visit (!) a mosque. To visit and so to curry the applause which did not appear. Think of his failure to back his AG, to his cowering non-response to the storm that resulted from terminating a handful of US Attorneys, though Clinton had precedentially fired ALL on his entry to office.

    So many missed opportunities to live by principles. Including honesty and valor. Valor in the face of the Democratic enemy.

    I applaud Trump, whose political word is pretty much his bond. Pretty remarkable. Does he get the GOP support he should get? Nope.

    PC is an infectious, brain-destroying disease.

  16. God speed FredJHr!!! You have achieved what most of us could only hope for……that people (and strangers would remember you fondly). Miss him and his insights!!!

  17. Being a changer myself, I have lurked here almost from the beginning. RIP, FredHJr.

    And, thank you, Neo, for providing this oasis for us.

  18. Somewhere among your “to whom it may concern” papers, leave your nom and ask your loved ones to let Neo know you have gone on to better worlds.

    I am hoping for the opportunity to watch the director’s cut movie, and learn what really happened in some of those stories that obsess us here, and which we will probably never see fully unveiled in this life.

    On the other hand, at that point, we probably won’t care any more.

  19. Thinking about it, it seems like just a few years ago. Then again, I can believe ten years have passed. So much has happened: Obama became President, was (incredibly) re-elected despite job he did, and somehow we survived. Now Trump…and unless you believe every word from MSM & Democrats, US is more than surviving. Def. some cringeworthy comments from time to time, but if you, like I, have learned to ignore the Twitter, turn down the volume on TV at times (and laugh at his jokes–he can be funny) and focus on policy, not too many complaints. Would be interesting to hear FredHJr’s comments, espec. on economy because, if I remember correctly, that was his background. I’ve been much quieter (commenting) than when FredHJr was a regular on the blog. But it’s great to see that a) so many readers still have conversations WITH one another on this blog and b) so many who have been following Neo have done so long enough to remember FredHJr. and his engaging commentary. And the shock we all felt when he had the accident, and the void he left.. I actually still think of him regularly. And Neo-, hats off for keeping us coming back year after year entertaining us, engaging us, informing us and stimulating thought that has made us “regulars.” (I’ve been much quieter than in yrs. past, sometimes having to catch up reading a day or two late, but still here & appreciating). What’s really hard to believe is how long I’ve been following Neo and enjoying so much from politics to Jello art (remember?), dance, music oldies & “earworms,” best jellybeans for Easter and inspiring discussion. Neo’s many hats (lawyer, dancer, psychologist) a variety of points of view, and I still look forward to going to the blog daily to get my “fix.”

  20. Another missing person I fondly remember is cf bleachers from wretchard’s Belmont Club. Just disappeared.
    RIP.

  21. Thank you for doing this each year, Neo. I remember FredHJr, and I’d love to know what he would have to say about the 10 years he’s missed, and has been missed in.

  22. Cathy Seipp was a rare jewel, as was FredHJr and many others gone before.
    We must try to remember to treasure each other.

  23. Good commenters are important to a good small blog. Big blogs, like Instapundit, have too many. Tiny blogs not enough. 5-50 comments seem a good amount. I recall FredHJr, and others. One blog I recall is the leftist Norman Geras, who often had good questionnaire response interviews with other bloggers.

    Another Iraq blogger was Michael Totten, who is on the blogroll but just now I see:
    http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org has expired and is pending renewal or deletion

    It’s so hard to do a good blog, and Neo, you do a great job.

    And I so strongly appreciate your search for both truth, as in true facts and honest predictions about the future, as well as Truth about human beings. The current Democrat willingness to abandon truth in order to win power is a willingness to destroy Christian-Capitalist (i.e. Western) Civilization.

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