When a geek/blogger dies

I’ve been a customer with Ventures Online for several years. While they may not be the cheapest host out there, their support and expertise is top notch.

Upon my “every couple of days” rounds to their forums, I came across this post. Chad Keep, one of their Tier-III (meaning *nix and Web hosting stud) tech died last week. He was suffering from serious migraines that were hampering his ability to function.

His death is sad, and he’ll be missed, but what’s even more interesting was his “suicide note,” (or goodbye post, or whatever) of sorts. He had posted a hidden entry on his LiveJournal blog that came to light after his death. Update: Chad’s blog is here, along with his last post.

Karin, a friend of mine at VO who has worked with Chad, has a category about her experiences with him over the last couple weeks. She’s also trying to deal with all of this, as well as document as much of the knowledge that Chad has shared with him.

I didn’t know him as well as some, beyond my dealings with him on my host’s HelpDesk, but I knew his skills, and he will be sorely missed.