The Light goes out for the Spotlightkid

I write this Journal entry, in a most saddened state of being.

SAD, TERRIBLY SAD ANNOUNCEMENT

My good friend, colleague and kindred spirit, Paul Lindenberg, aka: Spotlightkid passed away today: 13H00 GMT+2, 27 MAR 2011, in Johannesburg, South Africa.

On 19 FEB 2011, Paul was riding his Mountain Bike to the Roodepoort Bike Park, w/ his usual riding partners, when he suffered a stroke and fell from his bike. The fall caused a severe head trauma, in addition to the damage caused by the stroke.

Paul was rushed to hospital and remained there since the accident until his passing, Sunday.

His wife, sister and brother were constant – as they were able – under unbelievably strict visiting prohibition by hospital staff (do not get me started on that issue!) at his bedside.

Over the weeks, Paul had showed some improvement. Even as of my last update from his sister – on this past Saturday (26 MAR 2011) – it was apparent Paul was slowly improving. He was expected to be released to home-care this coming week.

His passing on Sunday 28 MAR came as a total surprise and a horrible shock.

PAUL

Paul was a consummate professional in whatever he took on to do. His photography was tight, thoughtful, engaging, informative and down-right enjoyable. His skills as a computer programmer were second to none.

Paul loved photography. It didn’t matter if the subject was someone on a city street, a sleek aircraft slipping though the air, a partially hidden antelope in the bush, a kid ‘hot-doggin’ it on the BMX track, the sleekest new bike or motorcar in production on a show block, or a newly minted wonder of the floral world, Paul loved taking photos of them all.

His love for all forms of life that could be framed in his viewfinder; people, places, events, city life to wildlife and the wilds of all places in between the heavens and the earth, were exhibited throughout his photographic work.

A tour of Paul’s Red Bubble account shows the level of his photographic prowess. Whatever he pointed his lens at was presented to the viewer in a most pleasing and engaging manner. You could not walk away from one of Paul’s photos. You left when it let you go.

Paul maintained an exceptional gallery of images on his Flicker account, as well; known there as the SpotlightKid. The pages upon pages of this gallery are filled with numerous images of his expanded technique and experienced photographic eye.

Paul was also well known, respected and admired among the aviation community in Johannesburg. His fame took on an international flavor and following with the launch of his eMagazine: Le Cirque Volant. His capture of all manner of aviation transport, has been admired for years.

As recently as this January 2011, Paul formed a special Facebook page devoted to gaining recognition for, and acceptance of, those who specialize in photographic capture of various elements of aviation interest: airplanes, jets, helicopters and their storage areas. Members of this pursuit are known as Planespotters. His Facebook account, the Planespotter_ZA. His absence from that community is now sorely missed.

PAUL and Me

I have been meeting people online for over twenty-five years now. I have a near 20 year membership in one online group, devoted to Fly Fishing. One of my good friends from that group, sometime around 1993 wrote of the people whom he had become acquainted with – on that group – were in his words, Friends Not Yet Met.  He took that saying from a William Butler Yeats quote,

“There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven’t yet met.”

Odd, I can hardly imagine a time when I did not know Paul Lindenberg. Yet, there was a lot of time I did not know he even existed. My loss. Truly.  He, Paul, became for me, the epitome of a, Friend Not Yet Met.

Paul and I met through the social community devoted to image sharing, called Flickr, in February of 2007. I was searching for images of trout and fly-fishing for an art project I was developing. One return in my search turned up a screen-shot of a database for fly-fishing. I clicked and saw the profile handle, Spotlightkid. Details of the profile said this Spotlightkid was from South Africa. I thought, “What? Fly-fishing in South Africa? For what, carp?” I had an education coming.

I had NO IDEA just how much I’d enjoy it.

I contacted this, Spotlightkid about his fly-fishing database program. One thing led to another and we were off-to-the-races. And I do mean .. off to the races!!   It’s as if we’d both prepared our entire lives for this meeting.

Going back over the archive of communication between us – and it is vast! – I have been astounded; no… SHOCKED!; at just how fast we moved on ideas and project concepts.

Unfortunately, due to health problems that were rapidly engulfing me at the time, I nearly as quickly, fell off the radar screen. Off and on for the next year and a half, I struggled to keep up with the projected plans. I was constantly falling behind and into the black-hole of depression and inaction and I knew in my heart, disappointing to Paul.

That really hurt.  It still does.  It always will.  But I will not let this feeling go negative. Instead I will direct it to positive ends. That would have been what Paul would have wanted.

Through it all; the darkness of depression, isolation, and disappointment; came this voice of calm and support in a most intriguing South African accent,

“Yea, Bru! You makin’ it okay there, Jimmy?”.

To which I would try to reply in positive kind. Despite my black cloud of despair being as obvious as the proverbial ‘wort’, Paul would pop back in with something like,

“No matter bru. You’ll get it straight. No rush. Say, let’s pop over and watch the flat-dogs ‘round a watering hole on the cam. What say?”

Or, we’d just take a tour of Africa in his photos or the online galleries of his or of photographic friends or associates. Regardless, he would pull my blithering butt right out of the mud hole and up onto dry ground and he’d  once again show me the daylight.

Paul is the only person on earth who ever called me Jimmy… and got by with it. I never liked that juvenile version of my first name, but somehow, when Paul said it, it just … felt , well… welcome. And that’s how it will remain. Paul will continue to be the one and – ONLY ONE – whom will ever call me by that name. And I will treasure it – always.

These are life experiences one does not forget. Something we miss to the utmost-of-missing, when they are gone.

It’s here where these words – of American pop-singer, Joni Mitchell, in her hit tune from the ’70′s, Big Yellow Taxi – come roaring back into painful focus. From the chorus, the words burn deep and bring stark attention the need for diligence in making the most of everyday with those whom we care.

Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till it’s gone

Paul and I shared a keen interest in so many of the same things in life. Yet, growing up where we did, with such vast differences in our pasts and parts of the world, life could not have placed us on more juxtaposed paths. Our life experiences were vastly different. Yet, none of the differences mattered. We had far too much alike – in common and  sharing a common vision for the future – to let any outlier bother us.

Our connection was immediate. We hit-it-off from the first keystroke.

I shall forever miss Paul and his quick uptake on any idea I would present. We had this incredible, Yin-Yang Thing going on. I’d mention an idea and he’d fill in the missing part. And we’d do the same in reverse. It was a bit spooky at times. But who cared?

We sure didn’t. It was just too much fun!

Oh, yes. I miss that immensely. I’ve missed it since the day I got the news of his accident. And that miss will not soon depart. On one hand I am so tired of hurting. I want my friend back. But, on the other, I really don’t want the pain to leave.

I’m afraid of forgetting him.

Paul and I went on dozens of ‘digital hunts’. No, like those when we tuned into WildEarth.tv – watching for  what animals would pop-up as the guides drove around in their Rovers, in park areas around Kruger National, where Paul was my personal Guide to the Animals of Africa; wicked good!

Though we took a LOT of these forays, it’s not what I’m talking about.

It’s the dozens and scores of tours we took  all around the Internet in search of story ideas. We’d look for photos, videos, blog posts, and other digital tracks of interesting uses – of the newly developing digital technology – and their display. We scoured the Internet together for new ideas and activity in the digital world.

We sent each other dozens of emails and Skype texts with links to cool and impressive places we’d find. Then we’d connect on Skype to discuss the sites we sent to each other.  Our favorite activity was to engage in ‘live hunts’.  While connected via Skype, we’d take off across the pans, savannahs, mountains, forests, deserts, oceans and urban landscapes of the Internet in search of our quarry: Hot new digital species and their environments. We had a grand time and found such incredible places. All the while sharing the finds together.

This is how all relationships form. Common interests. Common dreams. Common goals. When accomplished  together, over a period of time, participants become common friends.  For some, as Paul and I, the result  unfolds in an uncommon friendship. We became, as his native South Africans say… Bru.

Paul introduced me to the Australian photo/image site, Red Bubble. Paul was my first Watchlist Friend; on my first of three Red Bubble accounts. We both operated numerous accounts on Flickr and participated in -and ran – a wide variety of Ning Community sites. Then there is our prolific over-population of WordPress.com sites. We were joyously out-of-control.

There is no way I can forget Paul.

Every time I log into my regular haunts .. Paul’s name and photo will always be there. It is painful to see these memory icons now.  But I know, that in-due-time, the pain will be replaced by an extremely comforting awareness of having my  Bru there with me, again, in all those places we dug for digital treasures together.

In December 2009 I met another Red Bubble member, by the name of Pieter Zaadstra owner of  Zaadstra Art in Gravelly Beach, Tasmania. We, too, hit it off. But the development of our friendship was held off until April of 2010 – as Pieter was off into the bush for several months – on assignment – and out of contact with the digital world.

I couldn’t wait to tell Paul about Pieter. I immediately fired off an email with all the tantalizing details of this encounter and a link to Pieter’s art gallery site. Once again, Paul was spot-keen to the implications of the potential. No need to explain, we discussed it in detail for months.  But one thing was still an unknown: would Pieter contact me again?  This we did not know for sure. But we sure felt it would happen.

Pieter got back to civilization in April 2010 and contacted me via Red Bubble within hours of his arrival.  This was our answer.  Not only back and contacting .. but immediately. It was plain to see Pieter would be our perceived-perfect-fit for the group Paul and I had created.

Again, it was just like what Paul and I had been saying for weeks. [Twilight Zone theme song plays in background - again!]

Within days, I formally introduced Pieter to Paul – via a Skype call – and immediately we became a trilogy of ideas, collaboration and projects.

The group Paul and I had formed is eDIGImag. Pieter formally tossed his lot in with us in early 2010, with his Zaadstra Studios. It wasn’t long before the Three eDIGImigos had hatched a reall doozey of an idea, for bringing Pieter into the mix, called ZaadTrek.

The engines roared. We were dizzily cranking out ideas and plans for the next 10 years! Yes… 10 years. High on the agenda would be the ZaadTreks; playing a major role in the launch of our flagship publication, LAT.LON. After a long discussion on where to begin – we all agreed, South Africa would be a perfect fit.

With Paul ‘on-the-ground’; accessing his knowledge ,expertise and contacts (brother-in-law and sister, David and Stephanie Tennant figuring prominent)  was the perfect set-up to get a grand Trek off and running. Plans were then kicked into high gear for Pieter to make the pace-setting, Trip of Discovery to South Africa.  He would make connections, get bearings and gather data for our initial offering of ZaadTrek goodies.

Then we were all struck with a tragic news report. Paul’s brother-in-law, sister Stephanie’s husband, David Tennant, owner/founder of Dave Tennant Safaris. had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

The three of us watched through Paul’s conversation and regular reports, as David fought  long and courageously, but eventually losing his battle for life in August 2010. It was for me… another – Friend Not Yet Met - that shall go forever, unmet.

Pieter landed in South Africa in November of last year (2010), spending 3 weeks visiting areas Paul had procured accommodations and access to. Pieter wandered about collecting data that would become part of our production plan: One book each year, for the next five (5) years and eMags expanding on the areas covered, delivered on a monthly basis. We were set to Premiere launch in April 2011.

Life is learning how to deal with unexpected interruptions along the linear timeline. But explosions like the loss of Paul … well, those just stop the timeline completely.

Pieter, at least, got to meet Paul. For this, I am quite happy. I am however saddened that I did not – nor, will now – ever have such a luxury. Another, Friend Not Yet Met, I’ll not meet.

Paul and I were kindred spirits. We shared so much in common that any difference was rendered, invisible. Such a kinship of mind and kindred of spirit is truly rare. If you or I can experience this pleasure but once in a lifetime, then we must consider ourselves extremely blessed. And I do. I truly do. But still, it does not keep me from feeling robbed of further years, sharing unique and wonderful experiences with such a unique person as Paul.

That truly hurts.

What am I to do now…? This is a question I keep asking myself. The void is deafening.

Please, DO remember Paul’s family in your thoughts and prayers. This is a very difficult time for them.

As well, don’t forget Paul. Visit his RedBubble, Flickr, and many other sites across the Internet to constantly refresh your mental picture of Paul, his work, his legacy and what he will always mean to you.  I will have a complete list of Paul’s, online presence, on the eDIGImag site.

Keep the Spotlightkid alive in your hearts and memories. Keep Harry Black running through the brush and engaging his audience with excitement and life.

And do not forget to keep all the others: Yes, those whom all of us have lost – to whatever tragedy before their time … or in their due time. Keep them alive in your hearts, your memory and tell others of how much you care for them. Share their stories and importance – in your life – with others.

Pass on their lives and legacy to the future. Keep the heritage of their Spotlights burning bright.

Thank you Paul.

I WILL keep your Spotlight burning. In my feeble hand, your Spotlight will tremble for a time. But I do hope and pray, that, in-that-time, I shall be able to hold your memory steady.

Your light -your life- may have left us, but your Light – that wonderful part of you that inspired, caressed, excited and warmed us with your pleasant demeanor, catchy character, charm and wit – that Light, we will keep lit and it will go forth.

The only OUT your Light shall see, will be when it is being sent OUT to those whom we contact. Where ever we go, to whomever we connect, they too, shall know a bit of the Light that was – and will always be – the Spotlightkid.

Till another time and place. I will remember. I will tell. The story of the Spotlightkid and Harry Black.

The man who was, is and always will be my colleague, my friend, my Bru – Paul Lindenberg.

Your bru … les ‘jimmy’ booth

Paul Lindenberg and Matt Coughlan on the Makgadikgadi Pans back in 1994