Don't hear the bell, but you answer the call

I've just heard some rather sad news. Paul Reid, organiser of the Warboot wargames trading events, founder member of the Manchester Area Wargames Society "Black Panthers" group of hardcore non-competitive gamers, has died.

Paul was one of the gamers invited to the last scheduled GASLIGHT game.  But at around the same time that my father was having his recent bad reaction that resulted in us cancelling the game, I was unaware that Paul had been hospitalised as a result of his own battle with the Big-C.  From what I hear, the deterioration was swift.

I can't pretend to have been bosom-buddies with Paul, but he was one of the MAWS gamers I'd connected with when I returned last year.  He was a good bloke, a VSF fan and reader of this blog from the early days. I last saw him at the last MAWS Warboot event, where we had a spirited conversation about the evils of competitive wargaming, along with some gossip about the organisation of this year's Britcon (or the lack thereof).

Sorry we never got to roll dice together again, dude. Yer going to be missed.

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And on a brighter note, let's hear it for Bluebear Jeff of Saxe-Bearstein, who's kicked the Big-C in the daddy-bags and is now back home recuperating from his own surgery.  I know Jeff's facing a long and possibly un-fun recovery period, so let's keep those good wishes and positive healing energy flowing his way.