hello tweets.

i am very disappointed to learn that don baccus has been
lost to tweeters, possibly due to his comments in the
"evolution discussion," which i had played a part. i
often appreciated don's input and insight into this (and
other) discussions because his words usually cut through
the semantic bullshit that can be used to conceal the
true meaning of a written message, and go straight to the
heart of the matter under discussion.

don's direct communication style and sometimes brusque
words do not conceal his messages; which are powerful, clear
and honest. don's public and private messages have made me
laugh outloud, they have made me proud of myself and of my
chosen field of study, they have made me angry, and even,
on a few occasions, i have felt intense sadness after reading
don's accounts of personal events in his life.

i have been repeatedly impressed by don's generosity with
his talents and resources and his kindness to others,
including the sometimes ungrateful tweeters community. his
web-based bird-reporting page for the tweeters and OBOLers
-- that he writes, updates and maintains at his own expense
and on his own time -- is only the most recent (but not the
least) of examples that i can point to. on a more personal
level, some of don's lovely photos appear on one of my own
webpages free-of-charge. in fact, he encouraged me to
download them so i could include them in my silly little
birder's diary. as you all probably know, don uses his
photographs to pay his rent, so the generosity of such an
action should not be underestimated.

don is a communicator in the true sense of the word. without
don baccus, tweeters had been transformed into a very grey
blurry world, without the sharp, clear lines and bright colors
that we use to define issues and to identify birds.

regards,

Deborah Wisti-Peterson email:nyneve at u.washington.edu
Department of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash, USA
Visit me on the web: http://students.washington.edu/~nyneve/
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