Readers here should be familiar with lots of our stories that began with NTDWA. That was my shortened version of Nothing To Do With Arbroath, a wonderfully quirky blog that specialized in offbeat stories from around the world.
The blog never received many comments, so it was tough to gauge the impact it was having. Often I felt like I might have been the only blog linking.
The owner, Kevin, announced around 2 years ago that he was hanging it up because of a perceived disinterest in his endeavor by his readers.
After this announcement many readers came out of the woodwork and implored him to keep the blog running. His impact, it was revealed, was enormous.
We made an announcement and sent readers over there to show our support.
Kevin decided, thankfully, to keep blogging.
A few months ago Kevin took a hiatus, citing illness, and said he was at a crossroads once again and would take a little time to figure out his future plans.
From that point on Kevin only updated once in awhile, and it was to post about his failing health.
He was remarkably transparent about his symptoms and what he feared. It was obvious he was gravely ill and most armchair physicians knew intuitively that he most likely had cancer.
A subsequent post confirmed our suspicions.
It’s with sadness that we report that Kevin Gray has passed away.
Our Cate sent us the news.
Kevin Gray represented the beauty and tragedy of blogging.
A faceless, unassuming man, across the globe, faithfully presented us with a particular point of view day in and day out.
I didn’t know him. He didn’t know me. But we had a connection.
I thank him for entertaining and informing me for these many, many years.
He was 56 years old.
RIP buddy.
I poked around his blog now. I stopped when I got cancer last year and didn’t really have the strength or physical acuity to use a computer. It was a fun little site.
May God grant him peace.
He had some good stuff. RIP Kevin.
Many of our family and friends are no longer with us to care, support, strengthen, educate and encourage us.
Their once kind thoughts, spoken and written words are like radiant light.
That light doesn’t diminish or vanish, it continues to reflect, shine and illuminate for infinity.
RIP, may that light reflect favorably upon you.
His blog was one of the handful I have bookmarked, and reading it was always part of my daily ritual. I knew after his last two or three posts that he didn’t have long to go. He literally worked on NTDWA until he dropped.
RIP, Kevin – you were one of the best.
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
I used to go up to his site whenever I was tempted to throw my coffee at the wall (or the TV/Computer depending) because there was always something there to make me laugh. I knew he was ill reading his posts also saw some of his readers trying to come to his aid even though they didn’t even know him. RIP Mr. Gray. You always made people crack a smile even when they felt bad and that’s not a bad epitaph these days.
sad news. sorry to hear this.
I read him first thing every morning, for many years. Had a feeling with that last post it would be the last. He touched so many lives.
Just lost a 59-year-old friend to liver cancer last week, so I am well aware how hard it is for family and friends to lose someone that seems to be too young. My heart goes out to those he’s left behind who will miss him so much.
BTW, some of the commenters on the last post at NTDWA have asked if anyone who knows how to archive the site so that it will be preserved and remain accessible. You can pass on any info you have about that by commenting here:
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10345672&postID=7391756760419463451&isPopup=true&bpli=1
🙁 I enjoyed his site and often wandered over there just to see what he posted. I have a few sites bookmarked who have interesting non political artsy or science posts that I regularly look at for iotw inspiration. One blogger in the UK is suffering from lung cancer now…what’s going on?
Went to his site and the first link I saw was this.
Mountain biker races his joyful dog.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd8Os7Li8N8
Thanks for that one Kev.
You and I would have been Mates at the Pub.
From your new vantage view point above
And from Beyond ‘our’ dimensional reality
I can hear you Smiling at the Happiness that video brought me.
Cheers Mate.
Gone too soon. RIP Kevin
So sad… his last post was dated Jan. 16…. and he passed on the 22nd. RIP Kev.
Ah, this IS sad news. I learned about Kevin’s site through you Fur – and have more than a few of his posts shared on my Facebook page. As noted by others, his was a place to go and get way from politics and just see what life is throwing down – along with very good animal videos. Rest in Peace Kevin – you entertained, and made better, a lot of people’s lives through your blog.
So sorry to hear of his passing. I hope his site is indeed archived so that he can live on through it.