By now, you’ve probably heard that the maven of Seattle blogging, Anita Rowland, finally lost her battle with ovarian cancer. I was all set to make the post announcing her death on Monday, but Samantha beat me to it. I’ve been meaning to write up my own post, but I still can’t put something together that sounds cohesive.

So, I will say two things.

Anita was the Great Connector. I wouldn’t know a bunch of people, by sight or by blog, if it weren’t for her. She was the gatekeeper for blogging in this town, only it wasn’t about keeping people in and out of blogging, it was about making sure people were welcomed, accepted, and plugged in. I’ve been amazed at how many bloggers here in Seattle — and beyond — who say that she was instrumental in getting them to start writing online, or instrumental in getting them plugged into community here.

The other thing is that I regret not knowing her better. I always have felt like I’m not one of the “cool kids” in town, so I really was hesitant to “friend” her. It took me a while, too long really, to learn that with Anita there was no such thing as the “cool kids” vs. the “uncool kids.” Everyone was welcome, and she was always ready to engage and encourage. I wish I’d learned that lesson earlier. Maybe my daughter and Riley could have hung out more, like they used to at blog meetups.

One other little detail that’s been running through my head the last few days is Christopher Wren’s epitaph in St. Paul’s Cathedral:

Si monumentum requiris, circumspice
If you seek his monument, look around you.

Some part of me feels that in this internet world we live in her monument is on Technorati. But that sells short the communities she helped foster, from us bloggers here in town and beyond to Potlatch and the sci-fi community to her many tours of duty at Microsoft to her days in swing-dancing class. In every one of these circles, she left it far better than it was when she got there. She connected people to people. Her monument is those relationships that will continue on long after she’s forgotten like abandoned LiveJournal accounts.

She will be missed, greatly.

Related posts:

1. Department of sad news: Anita Rowland
2. Monday Agenda: Jarvis vs. Anita vs. Dora
3. wednesday agenda : bloggers!
4. wednesday agenda : so much for the wednesday agenda
5. MOMMY!!!!!