R.I.P., Anita Rowland

December 10, 2007 6:37 PM

Anita Rowland (User 113), old school blogger, inspiration to many, has lost her fight with cancer. She'll be missed.
posted by ewagoner to MetaFilter-Related at 6:37 PM (37 comments total)

Link?
posted by dhammond at 6:45 PM on December 10, 2007

I'm very sorry to hear that. My condolences to her family.
posted by tkchrist at 6:46 PM on December 10, 2007

News of her death this morning is making its way through weblogs and journals, which is appropriate since she helped bring the two forms together back when they were both small and different communities. From Anita's LOL (List of Links) and Anita's Book of Days, to Twitter and Flickr streams, Anita made a vibrant contribution to the internet as a whole.
posted by ewagoner at 6:54 PM on December 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

Oh no. I've seen her at many a blog meetup. In fact I can't really imagine going into Ralph's and not seeing her there. Farewell, Anita.
posted by kindall at 6:55 PM on December 10, 2007

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posted by dg at 6:57 PM on December 10, 2007

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(Good to see she was looking forward until just weeks ago)
posted by rollbiz at 7:20 PM on December 10, 2007

Oh my god, I'm so sorry to hear that.

Anita was quite possibly the first other blogger I met in the early blogger days in Seattle in 1997? 1998? She had a big heart and was realy interested in using these tools to connect not just online but in real life. She welcomed me in almost immediately and allayed a lot of skepticism I had about the whole meetup thing. She invited and encouraged me to go to my first Santa Rampage -- I can remember following her in her jinglebell hat yelling at us all to keep moving -- and was a really formative part of me getting involved in the "fun people who like to do stuff" crowd in Seattle. As a result of her, I swear it, I also became a fun person who liked to do stuff. She was one of the first people who linked to me blogwise and even after I moved from Seattle, it was neat to see her turn up in my referrers from time to time. It always felt like a mitzvah when Anita pointed out something you'd done.

She was the last person I read regularly still using Greymatter. I'll miss her
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:22 PM on December 10, 2007 [4 favorites]

In fact I can't really imagine going into Ralph's and not seeing her there.

She worked at Ralphs?
posted by dhammond at 7:35 PM on December 10, 2007

No, the meetups were at Ralph's. I never go there otherwise, since Belltown is a bit out of my way.
posted by kindall at 7:42 PM on December 10, 2007

:(
posted by sillygwailo at 8:00 PM on December 10, 2007

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posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 8:10 PM on December 10, 2007

Condolences to her friends and family.
posted by yhbc at 8:17 PM on December 10, 2007

So sad, I'll miss her, I do remember her blog from the early days. Back in 2005, a friend told me she was diagnosed and on chemo.

God, this stuff always comes as a shock because I don't think of weblogging as being old enough that people can pass away. I still imagine everyone from the late 90s is in their 30s and 40s and just getting started on life.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 8:22 PM on December 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

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My deepest sympathy to everyone closer to her than I was. I was in semi-frequent communication with her in '99-'00, and she was always just plain 'good people', yet like so many other good people I've known, I just lost touch (this isn't supposed to happen in the Internet Era, dammit - but then, we were also supposed to get cancer cured by now...)

I will always remember that LOL really stands for "List of Links".
posted by wendell at 8:23 PM on December 10, 2007

Anita was a wonderful human being. She wrote me several times always with helpful information, welcomed me by email to Seattle with a list of resources, and now I'm kicking myself for never taking the time to meet her. I'll miss her presence very much.
posted by girlhacker at 8:50 PM on December 10, 2007

Oh dear... I remember her from the old days. I actually mentioned her in a post here a long time ago when people argued about the length of posts.

My sympathies to her family and friends.
posted by stefnet at 8:53 PM on December 10, 2007

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posted by Lynsey at 9:24 PM on December 10, 2007

Wiki updated.
posted by Mitheral at 9:25 PM on December 10, 2007

Crap, that's bad. I knew her too, in the way that blog people kind of but not really know one another, and have good but vague feelings about one another even though they've never met.

Sympathies from me too, to her family and friends and everyone who knew her better than me.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:07 PM on December 10, 2007

Anita was one of the nicest people I ever knew, always engaging, always friendly, always trying to get people talking, always getting people to blog.

She was a connector. Were it not for her, I wouldn't know at least a dozen people here in Seattle. She was the "den mother" of us Seattle bloggers.

It's hard to believe she's gone.

.
posted by dw at 10:29 PM on December 10, 2007

From her husband: "There is a memorial post on my weblog. Please go there to leave comments and memories about Anita. Spammers will be hunted down and their entrails fed to crows."
posted by mecran01 at 10:56 PM on December 10, 2007

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posted by netbros at 11:55 PM on December 10, 2007

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posted by litlnemo at 12:53 AM on December 11, 2007

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posted by Smart Dalek at 3:22 AM on December 11, 2007

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posted by yerfatma at 5:14 AM on December 11, 2007

mecran01: link please?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 5:40 AM on December 11, 2007

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posted by SoulOnIce at 5:41 AM on December 11, 2007

jessamyn: It's on the front page of ewagoner's last link, but here's a link to the last post on its own: http://www.anitarowland.com/gmarchives/00002532.html
posted by jmd82 at 6:23 AM on December 11, 2007

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posted by Dreama at 6:36 AM on December 11, 2007

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posted by cashman at 7:06 AM on December 11, 2007

She was one of the first people who linked to me blogwise

Same here.

like so many other good people I've known, I just lost touch

Same here, dammit. I wish I'd kept in touch, and I wish I'd gotten to meet her; those of you who did are lucky. My condolences to her husband and everyone who loved her.
posted by languagehat at 7:11 AM on December 11, 2007

jessamyn: Here's the memorial post.
posted by dw at 7:26 AM on December 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

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posted by cerebus19 at 7:26 AM on December 11, 2007

I so admired how she and her husband took in his young grandson when his parents couldn't raise him. Her spirit and attitude were indomitable. She will be missed.
posted by GaelFC at 9:26 AM on December 11, 2007

I posted in her husband's memorial post: About a million years ago I emailed with Anita about something that escapes me at the moment. I remember her being so nice and helpful to a new-ish 'net user. She will be sorely missed.
posted by deborah at 8:26 PM on December 11, 2007

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posted by webmutant at 6:44 PM on December 12, 2007

rebecca blood posted a link that has photos of the first Seattle Blogger meetup that Anita put togther way back in February 2000. Awww.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 11:34 PM on December 12, 2007