[Wondergirl]

Athos has been my good friend for 20 years, a lifelong bachelor with no family still alive. We met on a Q&A website (Answerway) and moved to this one after that one closed. Athos also was a Quora "expert". We emailed with each other almost daily. And did occasional phone calls. We have never met in person.

The last email I got from him was in late February. Yesterday (Saturday) I emailed his friend Jim who was also concerned about the lack of communication. Jim called the police to ask them to do a wellness check. They told him that Athos' neighbor, a nurse, had gotten suspicious because she hadn't seen him coming or going, so she called the police Friday to do a wellness check. He was found dead in his house, had probably died several days before that or as much as a week earlier.

He had turned 80 the day after Christmas and had heart problems, and, more recently, cellulitis, so we occasionally chatted about death and the next life. His body is at the county morgue, and I'm digging out and collecting contact information for his lawyer and others (information he has sent me over the years) -- plus other information that will be needed. A lot is still unresolved.

[Curlyben]

Always a sad time to lose long standing members.
Rest well, Athos.

[tomder55]

He helped make this board fun. I enjoyed the spirited debates . He was good at challenging my beliefs and premises . Athos ,along with Excon ,talaniman and paraclete were worthy adversaries.

Athos God speed on your new journey .

[jlisenbe]

Sad to hear the news. He certainly did contribute to spirited debate. I think we will all miss him.

WG, thanks for posting the news.

[Wondergirl]

I may have heard from Athos already. This afternoon I was emailing with a fellow in Tennessee who is trying to write a western novel. I've been his editor for other novels, so he didn't hold back, asking for suggestions on how to liven up the story now that the bank robbers are in Texas. I suggested a tornado. He immediately jumped on that idea and disappeared to start writing. I x-ed out our email conversation. The photograph of a tornado filled the monitor screen.