October 24, 2016

Steven DenBeste 1952-2016

Steven DenBeste has passed away.



I just received word from Steven's brother, graciously thanking me for making the welfare call to the police and confirming that what many of us feared had indeed come to pass.  I did not inquire as to specifics, but Steven had been in very poor health of late, having had a stroke just under four years ago.



Steven was brilliant, a former engineer with a crackerjack mind. His old blog, U.S.S. Clueless was tremendously important in the early days of the 'blogosphere'. It is hard to overstate the importance of U.S.S. Clueless and the brilliance of his analysis. Sadly, that site went down this past week as well, when Steven's server failed. That site was immensely influential to many of us, and I am far from the only person he inspired to blog or helped along.

Bill Whittle once described Steven as 
..brilliant, insightful, inspiring and ALWAYS RIGHT.

Bill, like so many others, was positively impacted by Steven's writings and inspired to do his own. Mr. Whittle also described Steven as one of the most gentle people he had known.

Some years ago, due to declining health and vicious internet trolling, Steven started Chizumatic to focus on less consequential topics, but he continued to be inspirational and influential in his new bailiwick. 

Pete describes it thus:
 Named after a character in Mahoromatic, Chizumatic was one of the oldest anime blogs.......

.....From the beginning, Chizumatic offered a strong editorial voice for the most competent direction and the cutest girls, as well as an excellent understanding of the classical blogging, which Steven brought with him from the political arena. Explanations and WMG were another hallmark. Did you think too that the crow in Haibane Renmei represented Rakka’s dog? We aren’t getting such insights anymore and animeblogging has become poorer for that.
 
 

Steven DenBeste had an overwhelmingly positive influence on the world despite his physical frailty, one out of all proportion to his resources. The world today is undeniably a better place for his having lived, but it is a bit dimmer today with his loss.

He will be sorely missed.

UPDATE:
Others, far more talented and eloquent than I have opined on this sad turn of events. 
Rand Simberg, Dustbury, Aziz, Bill Quick, Neo-Neocon, J.C. Carlton, Ed Driscoll, Ace of Spades, Jim Geraghty, Wonderduck, Suburban Banshee, Paterrico, Cold Fury, and Pixy has a whole other set of links. Sarah Hoyt, being a professional author, summed it up pithily
We shall not see his like again.

It looks like most of the U.S.S. Clueless archives have been saved and others in the comments to this post are working on additional backups. 

Thank you for all you did Steven DenBeste. 

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 01:23 PM | Comments (77) | Add Comment
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