Thread by @CHThiem

I first encountered @markgelband neck deep in the comments section of the Camera, circa 2008. I didn’t have a clue what or who he was fighting then. And he was so roundly abused in that forum that I assumed he must be wrong. (1/5)

https://twitter.com/markgelband/status/1338575477561323520?s=20

Of course, he wasn’t, and I’m sorry it took me a decade of living here to figure that out. Mark has been a generous friend since I’ve known him, and behind his public bluster, a patient explainer of our inglorious local history. (2/5)

From the start he has been a vocal supporter of my work, something which the rules of polite engagement discourage me from acknowledging too often. I imagine he’d say ‘fuck the rules’. I also trust he’d hold me accountable if I were in a position of misusing power. (3/5)

Mark has also penned some fine essays that have left me wondering what business I have writing commentary in the first place. Direct and unapologetic. Deft and poetic. (4/5)

All things considered I did not know him well - and certainly for a shorter time than most people in this town - but I feel bereft at his leaving. To an untamable ally, be well in the world. (5/5)