It is with heavy heart and tear filled reddened eyes that I write this post this evening. I am not sure exactly when I will press the “publish” confirm on this as the news has not yet been made public. Of course, by the time you read this the news will have been. But right now, I need to write…
This evening I learned of the death of a fellow Blog Buddy and writer extraordinaire Neptunus Lex (Captain, Carroll LaFon USN(Ret.)).
Article [Link]
My words this evening I’m sure will not come easy, which is somewhat ironic considering that for Lex the opposite always appeared to be the case. I first started reading Neptunus Lex some nine years ago now, back in the early days of the Blogosphere… There were fewer of us then and his prose stood out as something to take note. He used polysyllabic words in proper context and could offer up a Latin phrase without consulting wikipedia!
Truly a renaissance man, his blog became a regular daily read for me and… as the years advanced, for literally thousands of others. I first found myself drawn to his Blog due to his fantastic yarns of Naval Aviation daring do known as Rhythms. It wasn’t so much the plot, as I have heard many a similar tale over the years, but more in the way he spun the words. Rather than bringing the story to you, he brought you to the story. It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words, yet Lex could create a picture in far fewer.
Lex died this morning doing what he loved to do, fly! We knew this as his love was so skillfully rendered in his years of digital pages, and we were captivated by his love affair. We all anxiously awaited his next post telling us how his flying day went. There will be no more posts…
Lex’s writings were not solely dedicated to Naval Aviation, no… as I said Lex was truly a renaissance man, he shared with us philosophic insight few scholars can match. He had a way about him to boil down what many of us were thinking about an issue but we lacked the vocabulary or literary dexterity to convey properly in prose. Lex nailed it time and time again!
One of my favorite posts of his was on “Belief” and exactly what he believed in… http://www.neptunuslex.com/2003/10/22/beliefs/. I walked away from that post concurring with… well hell… All of it! Wishing I could learn to write well and assemble my thoughts a little more productively.
Another perhaps a proper legacy is Lex’s account of Ulysses… the hyperlinks are important.
I will miss him. I know I will catch myself looking wantonly at my links in the left pane here of Carmichael’s Position looking for Lex’s next post… knowing grudgingly it will never come. I will resign myself to reading his archives once again, enjoying his legacy, his advice, and his turn of a phrase.
A few days ago, Lex himself expressed concern and prayers be shared for the victims and their families of a tragic helicopter accident in the training grounds of Yuma Arizona. Little did he realize just how prophetic his words would be…
“It’s a dangerous business even in peacetime training, but you never quite grow used to this sort of thing…Prayers for their families, if you’re the praying sort.”
My prayers are surely with, The Hobbit, Son Number One, The Biscuit, and Kat. His family… and thanks to his words… ours too! We have always been here for Lex, now we are here for you!
God Bless… And thank you for sharing him with us all these years, you are not alone in your grief!
On days when Lex did not have the time to publish profound works of art, he was always kind enough inform us that his posting would be sparse for the time being. He often would throw us a bone in the form of a controversial news link and then allow us all to voice our commentary in his comments section. His final words would be “Talk Amongst Yourselves” as he proceeded to carry on with his life. Now we are left to only… talk amongst ourselves, but you know he’ll be following the threads.
Thank you Lex… Here’s to you, and those like you… damn few left!
For more tributes to the man… (recommend having a hanky handy) might I suggest:
- Instapinch: Lex
- SteelJaw Scribe: Ave Atque Vale
- Steve Ambrose: Don’t Blink
- Chap at USNI Blog: Pardon Him
- Susan Katz Keating: Neptunus Lex: 1960-2012
- Castle argghhh!!!: A Fraternity of Aviators
- CDR Salamander: Thank You and Farewell
- The Sandgram: Cleared West
- John Donovan: We were Bloggers Once
- USNI Blog: A Remarkable Man
- Homefront Six: Fair Winds
- AW1 Tim’s Blog One of our own
- Padre Dave Harvey: Requiescat in Pace
"Rather than bringing the story to you, he brought you to the story." Absolutely perfect description. Thank you for this post. After visiting there daily (sometimes several times a day) for about 9 years, I'm gonna be lost for a while. May God bless his family and all who loved him.
Posted by: MissBirdlegs in AL | March 07, 2012 at 11:02 AM
John -
Nicely put, we are indeed going to miss him mightily.
w/r, SJS
Posted by: Steeljaw Scribe | March 07, 2012 at 10:42 AM
Godspeed Lex.
Posted by: KenofSoCal | March 07, 2012 at 08:09 AM