I've not been blogging much lately, partly due to work, partly due to an inability to keep up with the astounding procession of lies and bad ideas coming out of our state capital, and partly because real life keeps getting in the way. Real life sometimes throws us a curve. One that was totally unsuspected this week was discovering that someone I have considered a long-term mentor is lost at sea on a ship that is presumed to be sunk, along with six others. Evi Nemeth is one of the gods of system administration, and has taught many classes and written many books. I've always found Evi to be informative, helpful, and one of the best people to teach an uprising of young system administrators. Evi retired a few years back, and has been spending her time sailing around the world, which was one of the greatest loves of her life. I'm more than a little shaken to realize that she is likely gone, and in such a shocking way.
The ship on which she was passenger/crew ran into some trouble off of Tasmania a few weeks back, and has not been heard from since. Aerial searches for the beautiful old and well-respected racing schooner she was on have been unsuccessful, and at this point it's presumed that the boat has gone down. Evi is an original, and an inspriation to everyone in the computing field who knew her. I'm hoping that she will crop up, so I prefer to still think of her as being around, but it seems increasingly unlikely. To all her students and friends over the years, let's hope this turns out well, but if not, remember Evi and take comfort in the fact that she was doing one of the things she loved the most.