March 27, 2023
Wonderduck Has Left Us
So, yesterday, I learned that Wonderduck, (Eric Carra) had thrown off this mortal coil on the 8th of March.
I do not know the circumstances of his passing beyond that it was due to complications stemming from his health issues, which were many of late.
Eric was a blogger from back when blogging was new and his website remained an eclectic convergence of interests; ducks, history, anime, ducks, wacky anecdotes science fiction, music, Formula One racing, and ducks....rubber ones usually. He was an avid collector of rubber ducks.
Wonderduck's Pond remains a repository for quite a few reviews of anime spanning nigh on 20 years, reviews that were exceptionally entertaining and brought many a chuckle to his readers over the years.
He was also an amateur historiographer with a particular interest in the battle of Midway. Shortly before his health took a sharp turn for the worse in 2021 he was invited to contribute to a historian's roundtable on the battle. Due to his hospitalization he was unable to do so.
'Wonderduck' encouraged me to become an early adopter of mee.nu, when I outgrew Blogger. (His site was hosted on mu.nu, the predecessor of this service.)
He also was a good friend. When I was recovering from my stroke he was in a hospital bed, yet despite his own issues, he gave me considerable encouragement through those dark times.
Eric was a well liked blogger who had a following and counted as fans some of the more impressive representatives of the medium. No small feat.
His last few years were fraught. A blood clot precipitated a hospitalization which in turn led to several other issues that combined to cause him great dismay.
Yet he soldiered on.
While we never physically met, we did used to correspond at least once a week, however, I had not spoken to him in just over a month. Despite his myriad problems, his main complaint was that he was having difficulty blogging due to technical issues, so he was still pursuing his hobby after everything.
Wonderduck had a lot of hurdles to deal with in his short life. Despite that he brought smiles to the faces of many people from all over the world over the years and made the world just a little quirkier and fun.
Few people accomplish that.
Eric, you will be missed.
We've managed to obtain an actual picture of Eric in heaven, studying naval history and being a kaiju.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
12:26 PM
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1
Hospitals kill. The sleep deprivation is a legitimate crime against humanity when bad guys use it, but we allow hospitals to continue with it. And, of course, infections. Finally, one of my friends died in post-op in 2002 because they mixed-up his meds. I was quite relieved when Wonderduck transitioned to rehab, but then he had to check in again and looks like that was too much.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Mon Mar 27 16:31:56 2023 (LZ7Bg)
2
Thanks Brickmuppet.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Mon Mar 27 23:40:03 2023 (PiXy!)
3
March 8 is the feast of St. John of God, who tried to improve conditions in hospitals (among other things). So I guess Wonderduck has been recruited for a new job.
I do want people I know to stop dying, though. This last five years has been rough.
I do want people I know to stop dying, though. This last five years has been rough.
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at Wed Mar 29 11:25:18 2023 (cHUaN)
4
I haven't checked the Anime blogs I follow recently, so this is the first I'd heard of Wonderduck's passing. I've followed him during his medical travails of the past few years, and always enjoyed his wit and style.
Very sad to hear that he's gone.
Very sad to hear that he's gone.
Posted by: jabrwok at Fri Apr 7 18:33:32 2023 (T4WaI)
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