Jeffrey Walker: an Irregular farewell
Living on Central European Time means I don't always get news in a timely fashion. Some news I don't want to get. Jeffrey Walker's passing came to me via a Tweet and I am crushed.
Jeffrey was one of 'us' Irregulars. A gentle and courageous soul who never used his position as president of Atlassian to sell me any thing. I admired that - a lot. A gentleman who was always thoughtful, quiet yet passionate. At times like this words fail me. I am crushed. I leave it to other Irregulars who do a far better job in the comments to Jeffrey's blog:
Jeffery, you will be missed dearly. Your openness about your fight against cancer taught me a lot about life and I am thankful for the few dinners we were able to share.
You’ve impacted an incredible amount of people and may you carry on through us all.
I’ll have that martini now please.
Jeffery you will never know the distance of your reach or its impact on those you touched. Your fight against cancer was an inspiration to watch and a celebration of the human spirit. I can’t thank you enough for letting us walk with you while you fought.
My heartfelt condolences go out to your family.
I am sad to hear that Jeffrey has moved on. But he did leave us with the precious gift of his friendship while he was here, and his gift of words, and things he built over the years.
He is and will always be an inspiration.
RIP.
Sadness consumes me with this news, but I know this is not what you want, Jeffrey. I celebrate the courageous, fun, warm, ballsy hero that you are.
Rock on my friend. We will always be tuned to your station.
To family & friends, deepest sympathy.
I only met Jeff a few times, but they way he talked and opened up, it was as if we were long time friends. I will never forget his positive attitude during his battle with cancer…Jeff Walker, you are an inspiration to us all, my friend. We will miss you!
Jeffrey was an incredible and inspiring person in so many ways. He was also a real person, with genuine interests extending in different directions. Perhaps most important was the excellence of his character. We will all miss him.
Jeffrey, you will be missed. I’m glad that we had the chance to meet, if only a few brief times.
There are plenty of other comments to sample - many of which are from others I know.
...and Zoli Erdos' eulogy that starts:
Damn. Damn. Damn. Cancer s**ks. And here I am, the blogger who thinks can write about everything, yet I am speechless.
Apologies if I've missed anyone.
To Jeffrey and his family: Farewell sweet prince...