Firawyn
The Captain
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2003
- Messages
- 2,374
Anyone still around from the old crowd will remember Barley. While he ended up taking his leave a number of years ago having had his fill of debating, in the early years of TTF, Barliman was one of TTF's most active members, posting like a fiend with absolutely nothing better to do than to poke holes in young Tolkien scholars' theories with obscure book references that would be both frustrating an enlightening. He'd been studying the works of Tolkien longer than many of us had been alive, and in retrospect, I'm thankful to have had his insight into the subtitles of Tolkienology as a fixture of my youth.
I regret to announce that Barliman Butterbur passed away just this March. He was eighty-three years old. I was privileged to get to know him as Leonard, and learn a bit about his life. He lived in Los Angeles, and was a respected artist and photographer, was a food critic columnist, a husband and a father. He survived a heart attack a number of years ago and got more years than anyone expected beyond that. He was a fighter, through and through.
My fondest memories of Barley, personal conversations aside, would probably be the way he'd nitpick my grammar and spelling in my early years here on TTF. It drove me nuts back then, but it made me a better writer in the long run. I couldn't help but respect him for his knowledge, and he made it perfectly clear that his respect would only be gained if I learned how to spell and learned how to properly form a sentence, and I wanted to make him proud, so I'll be damned but I pushed myself and I improved. He made me a better writer. He pushed me to be a better version of myself. He did that in more ways than just my skills grammatically speaking - it was just the kind of man he was - but that's what I remember most about him. I remember the man who was my Guide, if I can use a Joseph Campbell reference here.
Rest in peace, old friend. You are missed.
I regret to announce that Barliman Butterbur passed away just this March. He was eighty-three years old. I was privileged to get to know him as Leonard, and learn a bit about his life. He lived in Los Angeles, and was a respected artist and photographer, was a food critic columnist, a husband and a father. He survived a heart attack a number of years ago and got more years than anyone expected beyond that. He was a fighter, through and through.
My fondest memories of Barley, personal conversations aside, would probably be the way he'd nitpick my grammar and spelling in my early years here on TTF. It drove me nuts back then, but it made me a better writer in the long run. I couldn't help but respect him for his knowledge, and he made it perfectly clear that his respect would only be gained if I learned how to spell and learned how to properly form a sentence, and I wanted to make him proud, so I'll be damned but I pushed myself and I improved. He made me a better writer. He pushed me to be a better version of myself. He did that in more ways than just my skills grammatically speaking - it was just the kind of man he was - but that's what I remember most about him. I remember the man who was my Guide, if I can use a Joseph Campbell reference here.
Rest in peace, old friend. You are missed.
