Take care, Gerard
March 16, 2017 7:00 AM   Subscribe

Gerard Vlemmings, a long-time blogger from the Netherlands, was the one behind Presurfer, a daily dose of diversion for more than a decade, and mentioned around here many times over the years. He took a short vacation, his first in 16 years, back in January, and then there was another hiatus in early February, which turned out more serious than anyone hoped. On February 25, 2017, Gerard passed away, and his final post on Presurfer has become a memorial wall of sorts, with readers and fellow bloggers paying their respects.
posted by filthy light thief (17 comments total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
Sorry to hear that, every morning I'd check my RSS feed and see something interesting he posted.
posted by fixedgear at 7:13 AM on March 16, 2017


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posted by seyirci at 7:17 AM on March 16, 2017


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posted by Doktor Zed at 7:39 AM on March 16, 2017


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posted by jim in austin at 7:55 AM on March 16, 2017


I'd only discovered The Presurfer in the past six weeks or so, but was already hooked! Very sad to hear of his death.
posted by Samarium at 7:58 AM on March 16, 2017


Wow, I haven't visited the Presurfer in many years, but it was probably the first blog I followed on a daily basis way back when.

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posted by uncleozzy at 8:03 AM on March 16, 2017 [2 favorites]


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posted by snsranch at 8:22 AM on March 16, 2017


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posted by DreamerFi at 8:46 AM on March 16, 2017


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posted by plep at 9:19 AM on March 16, 2017


Both the Presurfer and Nothing to Do with Arbroath have been on my daily reading lists for years, and we've lost both in depressingly similar ways. Both are terrible losses, both for their families and friends and also for those of us who were only readers. I know there are lots of other great sites/bloggers/social media mavens out there, but I feel a real sense of bereavement at having lost these two voices so close together.

Rest in peace, Gerard. Everyone else: please look after yourselves.
posted by YoungStencil at 9:26 AM on March 16, 2017 [4 favorites]


fixedgear: Sorry to hear that, every morning I'd check my RSS feed and see something interesting he posted.

I've been checking the site "manually" over the years, often finding interesting items to cross-post to the Blue. When I saw that he was not feeling well back at the beginning of February, I kept checking in hoping that there would be some good news. When his Feb. 17th post was still the latest post, weeks later, I finally read the comments to see if anyone had news to share there, which is how I found out that he had passed.


I'd only discovered The Presurfer in the past six weeks or so, but was already hooked! Very sad to hear of his death.

Fortunately, his Blogspot archive goes back a decade, where the top post is 2007 Already Sucks Button
Deep down, you know it's true. The war. The economy. Your job. Your relationships. This button sums it all up. You really can't get more negative than this button.

In one short phrase, it condemns an entire new year to the trash heap. Be the first in your neighborhood to recognize 2007 for what it is... one mess of a year.
Now it would be easy enough to make that say 2017 already sucks.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:29 AM on March 16, 2017 [1 favorite]


Dang. The Presurfer was one of the best of the Elder God linkblogs. Farewell, Gerard.
posted by briank at 9:54 AM on March 16, 2017 [1 favorite]


I miss Gerald immensely, I've thoroughly enjoyed his and the Nothing...Arbroath site blogger's finds for what seems like forever. It's curious to me that each seemed to have passed away from a similar condition; could it be possible that blogging is hazardous to one's health?
posted by Lynsey at 10:22 AM on March 16, 2017


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posted by oneswellfoop at 10:51 AM on March 16, 2017


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Followed regularly for years. A great loss.
posted by Vortisaur at 12:31 PM on March 16, 2017


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Thank you so much for posting this. I was very sad when I heard about it, and thought the only bright spot that it was over for him quickly.
posted by ivanthenotsoterrible at 3:58 PM on March 16, 2017


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posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 7:15 PM on March 18, 2017


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