Dear Booksharians, I’m writing to let you all know that our dear friend
and fellow volunteer Fred Bertelsen has passed away. Many of you met
Fred through the activities in the Friends Of Bookshare chat room. He
helped so many of us with everything from learning to use our computers
to understanding what print books look like. He treated everyone with
kindness and respect. I’ll miss him terribly.

Fred’s family is in the painful position of needing funds to pay for
Fred’s urn and other expenses, so they are requesting help with that
rather than having people send flowers. If any of you are able to help
or would like to send his wife a sympathy card, please email me at
rhyami at gmail.com for his address. I don’t want to put it on a public
blog.

Finally, as many of you know, Fred’s passion was old time radio. In his
honor, there will be an online memorial for Fred on Thursday night,
November 20, at 5 PM Pacific, (8 PM Eastern time), in the Radio Out Of
The Past chat room. Fred’s friends can gather to share stories about
Fred, share our tears, and our hope and comfort too. We’ll use the same
Talking Communities chat software that you’ve used in the Friends Of
Bookshare chat room. The chat room has been renamed in honor of Fred,
and a Christmas OTR marathon is being put together and dedicated to him
as well. On Thursday night, just go to
http://conference321.com/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rs8d80999b8145 for the
conference room or visit http://www.radiooutofthepast.com for the Radio
Out Of The Past site itself. You’re very welcome to join us, even if you
know nothing about old time radio. This memorial is for anyone whose
life and heart were touched by this kind and gentle man. I’m looking
forward to seeing you there.