[wardaddy]

Good Lord....how sad. I had no idea.

One of the best there ever was around here.

Damn. I know he lost his wife last year or so.

God bless his soul.

I am dumbfounded to have gotten your post.

My condolences to all of his friends and survivors.

[Travis McGee]

I don't know how to put this, so I'll just put it. Matt was in terrible pain for at least the last year and a half as he battled cancer. He had been through every chemo and radiation therapy known, including some experimental ones with extremely adverse side effect. Matt was willing to go the hard route to become an experimental subject, not so much to extend his own life (and God knows he wanted to live!) but to possibly help the others who would follow his down his painful path.

Yes, he was a hero, fighting our fight, until the end.

Matt told this to me in strict confidence last year when a few of us were inquiring about his occaisonal disappearances from Free Republic. These were times he was in the hospital, or times that he was in such unbelievable pain that he could not work a computer to post.

Some of you might have noticed that his posting became more infrequent, and lately was just a line here or there. Matt was a highly intelligent man (obviously) and we could tell when his pain was pegging the meter by his missellings. He was really trying to hang in there and post, but could hardly read what he was typing through the pain.

Matt expressly did not want any prayer threads or "pity parties" on his behalf while he was alive. He wanted to keep posting like every other freeper, and not draw any attention to his "personal problems." Despite all the treatments, all the pain, he kept up the brave front to the bitter end.

He was a very brave man, and a hero.

He can skip purgatory, and go straight to the best place.

God Bless you Harpseal.....