Kendra Bancroft/Madeleine Blaustein passes away

thank you so much for your kind words, Tateru.

Kendra was a gem, and an amazing friend.

I'm going to miss her so much

Thank you, Tateru.

Kendra leaves a void no one can fill.

Meowth is dead? : ( That sucks.

Such an amazing mind and keen wit. The Universe is less now without her.

I will miss her until the day I die.

Kendra's two strengths — her amazing creative ability with an extraordinary talent, and the strong bonds she managed to forge with her friends — will never go away. Every day I log in I'm reminded by both, just by looking around myself.

Kendra's strong will is something that will remain for a long, long time — in SL's architecture, and in people's hearts. She was bigger than life, and will remain so in our minds.

Dying at the age of 48, sucks =/ So young, she could of lived for another 40 years.

You know, I love Massively.. I love your commentary Tateru. Also, I am sorry for the loss of what must have been a great friend of yours. (I personally have no idea who she is at all.) But... Since when did your column become the obituaries? This isn't news. This isn't opinion. People die in RL every day who were a part of SL. I have personally in just the last year, lost 5 people whom I have met in SL. 1 to Cancer, 1 to a psycho ex-boyfriend, 1 to an embolism following a horrific car crash, and the final one unfortunately took his own life. Do I miss them, yes, but I don't think a blog about games is the forum to express my feelings. Nor do I wish to read about them. Instead, a vigil or some sort of ceremony in-world seems more of an appropriate setting to grieve your loss.

Tharkis

Yeah I understand what you are saying Patchouli. But, nowhere in the article does it say just *what* contribution she made to SL. Except to say she knew Ulrika and participated in SL Politics. Neither of which are contributions. The way the article reads, she is merely a participant in SL. I can't believe this was the case, otherwise she would not have affected Tateru enough to write about her.

Tharkis, as for a cerimony of remembrance, one was made so far (probably a few more will be held): http://klauswulfenbach.livejournal.com/26604.html

For some of the real life work of Kendra/Maddie, you can take a look at the Wikipedia entry for her: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeline_Blaustein

For a short biography of most of her work in Second Life, see http://secondlife.wikia.com/wiki/Kendra_Bancroft

Indeed, this IS news - in the same way the death of an important and well-regarded celebrity is news, since in SL Kendra was just that. I realize that ever since SLInsider was swallowed up by Massively the SL news has become a sideline compared to all the folks who want the news on their favorite online amusement partks and how this got buffed and this got nerfed... but allow the few faithful this!