Macworld forum member, Grant G, passed away this week after a long struggle with leukemia. He died quietly and comfortably in a hospice near his home in Nevada.
Anyone who’s visited Macworld’s forums seeking help is familiar with Grant’s name and generosity. Macworld’s first “ Forum God,” Grant had a passion for helping others. Whether it was the rawest newbie unpacking their first Mac or a veteran struggling with one of the more arcane aspects of OS X, Grant was there with his vast knowledge, gentle encouragement and, often, wry humor. If you’re one of the tens of thousands of people who’ve been helped by the Macworld OS X Forum FAQ you’ve been touched by Grant as well—he, along with Macworld moderator Derik DeLong, wrote much of that FAQ.
His 9,548 posts and registration date of 1/12/01 tell only part of the story. Before the birth of the full-blown forums you see today, Macworld offered a single Mac 911 forum. Grant was one of its first members and in the early days when we were still building a community, Grant, another helpful member named Jeff Z, and I dashed from one end of our big empty forum to the other trying to lend a hand to the rare visitor who stumbled upon the site.
As often happens when work is slow, the three of us spent much of our time swapping stories far afield of the mission at hand. During one such exchange Grant and I engaged in a heated debate about the benefits of bleu cheese dressing (complete with Grant’s never-fail recipe for same). If you glance at just about any of his posts you’ll see that he continued to integrate a part of his “real” life into many of them—often illustrating a point by talking about how his wife Mo was amazed by some new trick he made his Mac perform or passing along a wholly unrelated tidbit about life in the mythical-sounding Pahrump, Nevada.
I never met Grant. I don’t know what he looked like. I don’t know what kind of car he drove or much about what he did earlier in life. I do know, however, that Grant was a sterling reminder of just how kind, generous, and helpful people can be. Our forums will be poorer without him.
I can’t think of anyone who more deserved the title of Forum God. All of us in the Macworld forums are going to miss him.
If you’d like to offer something in Grant’s memory you can send a contribution in his name to:
Nathan Adelson Hospice, 4141 Swenson St., Las Vegas NV 89119
To comment on Grant’s passing, please visit this thread.