BOZ
Creature Cataloguer
Eric Jansing, the man you probably knew better here on the Creature Catalog forums and EN World in general by his nickname of "Shade", passed away June 13, 2012.
He was a friend of mine, at least as much as you can be a friend to someone you only know online or through e-mails. But we knew each other best from working together. When the Creature Catalog first started, it was Scott Greene's website, with Erica Balsley. Scott and Erica moved on, and left me in charge. Shade – the self-professed "Monster Junkie" – came around to the forums, and not only was he able to get a lot of work done, but he did it well, and so he helped me run the Creature Catalog until I moved on to other things a few years ago.
But it wasn't just the work on the Creature Catalog that we bonded over. We wanted to put our skills to good use, so we started writing articles for "Dragon" magazine. I spoke to his wife earlier this evening, and I told her that he really gave me the confidence to try, and to do something I wanted to do.
Eric passed away at age 40, which is still very young, but it seems to me like he had a good life. He was a family man, with two kids and another one on the way. And I can tell that his wife loved him very much. So don't be sad that he is gone, but instead treasure the time that you were able to enjoy with him.
And yes, Eric loved games, just like the rest of us. It's easy for people to see games (especially the kind we geeks enjoy) as silly or a waste of time. But games are just another part of the way people have fun, something we have been doing ever since people have been playing games. Before his own death, Gary Gygax said, "I would like the world to remember me as the guy who really enjoyed playing games and sharing his knowledge and his fun pastimes with everybody else." I would like to think that Eric would want us to remember him the same way.
He was a friend of mine, at least as much as you can be a friend to someone you only know online or through e-mails. But we knew each other best from working together. When the Creature Catalog first started, it was Scott Greene's website, with Erica Balsley. Scott and Erica moved on, and left me in charge. Shade – the self-professed "Monster Junkie" – came around to the forums, and not only was he able to get a lot of work done, but he did it well, and so he helped me run the Creature Catalog until I moved on to other things a few years ago.
But it wasn't just the work on the Creature Catalog that we bonded over. We wanted to put our skills to good use, so we started writing articles for "Dragon" magazine. I spoke to his wife earlier this evening, and I told her that he really gave me the confidence to try, and to do something I wanted to do.
Eric passed away at age 40, which is still very young, but it seems to me like he had a good life. He was a family man, with two kids and another one on the way. And I can tell that his wife loved him very much. So don't be sad that he is gone, but instead treasure the time that you were able to enjoy with him.
And yes, Eric loved games, just like the rest of us. It's easy for people to see games (especially the kind we geeks enjoy) as silly or a waste of time. But games are just another part of the way people have fun, something we have been doing ever since people have been playing games. Before his own death, Gary Gygax said, "I would like the world to remember me as the guy who really enjoyed playing games and sharing his knowledge and his fun pastimes with everybody else." I would like to think that Eric would want us to remember him the same way.
