Well, as many of you know (excluding Admin) I was the first RV.net Truck Camper Forum mod. I did that job for 5 or 6 years until it became too much for me. I asked Admin for help. Admin selected Wayne as the co-mod. Wayne was a perfect fit. He and I got along great and Wayne’s presence and support allowed me to stay another 5 or 6 years until it was finally time for me to go. Wayne continued for another 3 or 4 years after I left before he passed the torch to the next TC Mod.
I really liked working with Wayne because we both shared the same philosophy on doing as little moderation as possible and giving the members as much freedom as possible. We first looked for a reason not to moderator a member’s post instead of looking for a reason to screw around with it for some minor reason. I’ve always thought of forums as living breathing things and an overbearing nitpicking moderator can choke the life out of a forum; forums need room and freedom to breath. Wayne and I both focused our time more on trolls, bullies, and folks trying to use the forum to benefit themselves financially.
After I left, Wayne and I still exchanged emails. I first learned of his serious illness several months ago. I knew it was very serious, but he was always incredibly positive in his communication. I had not heard from him in a few weeks and I just sent him an email on Wednesday to check on him....then I found this thread on the forum.
I once stood by the bedside of a close friend dying of lung cancer. He told me that he had wasted his life. While I did not agree with that at all, I still thought how sad it was that someone would think that in their final days. Separated by 2,500 miles, I did not know a lot about Wayne, but I do know he did not waste his life. As others have said, he was always eager to help anyone in need of help. He helped me last several more years as forum co-mod and he offered our jeep club a spot on his property to camp when we planned to go out West to the Rubicon Trail. But Wayne’s biggest impact on helping others was his roll as instructor at San Quentin Prison. I’m sure there are countless people who were able to turn their life around with the lessons Wayne taught them in his classroom. He will be missed.
While I swapped 1,000’s of emails/messages with Wayne and spoke to him on the phone several times, I never met him in person. If anyone has a photo or video of Wayne they could post, I would appreciate it.
Bigfootford, Thanks for posting that video of Wayne on the Rubicon Trail getting some air in his Zuki. He told me about his rig many times and I told him about mine. I tried many times to get Wayne to join us in Silverton, Colorado one summer, but the timing never worked out.
As NRALIFR posted, “Wayne was a good member, moderator, and person.” Enough said.
Brad