After one of my earliest posts in a sports thread, a post that included a reference to the Bill James Baseball Abstract (the primary source for many of plaw's statistical analysis), I was surprised to see notification in my AOL mailbox that "plawrence has sent you a message from the gangsterbb" (or something like that).

His private message extended a hand to say "hi" and welcome me to the boards, offered to find the source material I cited in my post, photocopy and send it to me (on his dime!), then invited me to join the fantasy leagues. I lurked for a long time before posting, and it was reassuring to have plaw greet me at the door to make me feel welcome.

Paul, I pray there's someone there to extend a hand and greet you, to make you feel comfortable as you did for so many friends here on the BB. Equally as important, I hope that your family can experience the same kind of comfort in your absence that you brought to others with your presence.

tony b.