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Remembering Ric Locke

So, do you? Remember Ric Locke?

He was a blogger and occasional commenter here who self-published an entertaining scifi book called Temporary Duty.

It sold well enough that he spent his last days arguing with the IRS. Yes, sadly, that rat bastard cancer got him in the Summer of 2012.

Welp, I got an email earlier this week from a dude called Yuris Daudish, who read Ric’s book and thought it deserved a public fandom. He put out the call for anybody who might have had dealings with Ric who could share anecdotes or insights into the man or the book. Or might want to join the discussion forum. I promised to go through what emails we traded back in the day to see if anything interesting turns up — and to spread the word to any reader here who might have had some interaction.

The fan site is http://temporaryduty.org. Contact Yuris at master@temporaryduty.org or through his site. Or here in the comments, if you like.

I can’t help thinking how pleased Ric would’ve been. Good weekend, all!

Comments


Comment from Pablo
Time: March 13, 2015, 9:15 pm

Ric was hands down one of the smartest guys on the internet, yet he could never seem to catch a break. His death was a tremendous loss. I knew him as a regular at Protein Wisdom. His blog, such as it was is here.


Comment from S. Weasel
Time: March 13, 2015, 9:40 pm

Thanks, Pablo. I should’ve put the link to his blog. I didn’t think.


Comment from Yuris
Time: March 13, 2015, 10:25 pm

Thank you Pablo! I never knew Ric personally, but from all the posts I found on the net (I managed to find quite a few), he was one self-opinionated S.O.B. who didn’t care about what others think of him. I don’t mean the latter as an insult however. The book he wrote and the universe he created are both astounding – in their simplicity and the level of detail at the same time.

I got introduced to Ric’s book back in late 2012 when a fellow commuter train passenger mentioned TDY to me. I downloaded a free (as in “pirated”) version of the book and read it. I used to be a Soviet Army sergeant a lot of years ago so the idea of some enlisted men getting ahead of the officers was a familiar ground to me. Shortly thereafter I bought my first Kindle and the paid version of the book. At some point later I started looking for a sequel, only to find the “Ric Locke has died” post on Barb Caffrey’s blog. I then realized that Ric’s work deserves more attention than it ever had and my site was born as a result…

I’m hoping that I can generate enough interest in Ric’s work for that sequel to become a reality. And besides, it’s kind of fun to write a description of zifthkakik all by myself 🙂


Comment from Skandia Recluse
Time: March 13, 2015, 11:31 pm

“Temporary Duty” was a delight. I loved that story. It is exactly the type of SciFi story I enjoy.


Comment from Pablo
Time: March 14, 2015, 12:02 am

It wasn’t much of a blog, Stoaty, in terms of his time, presence and impact on the interwebz. Mostly it was where we watched him die. He did some great blogging at the PW Pub, now lost except to the Wayback Machine. But mostly he could chime in on any conversation with rare insight and wisdom.

Very cool of you to remember Ric. I hadn’t in some time and I’m glad I have now. Thank you.


Comment from mojo
Time: March 14, 2015, 2:18 am

US Amazon link:
CLICK


Comment from mojo
Time: March 14, 2015, 2:22 am

BTW, don’t forget Pi Day – 3-14-15


Comment from Nina
Time: March 14, 2015, 5:03 am

I love the book! I bought it when you had it on here, and read it from time to time and think of Ric. I wish the really good guys could hang around a lot longer than some if them do, that’s for sure.

I think I’ll read it again this weekend, in fact.


Comment from Nina
Time: March 14, 2015, 5:04 am

And yes, cancer is a rat bastard.


Comment from SCOTTtheBADGER
Time: March 14, 2015, 5:31 am

We lost Terry Pratchett this week, too.


Comment from Yuris
Time: March 14, 2015, 3:07 pm

Nina, hopefully you will find time to read the book this weekend, and if you come across “What the heck does this mean?” word or a reference, please let me know! This is exactly the sort of questions I want have the answers for on my site. The book is filled with military terms, vague references and slang and being able to decipher those is a lot of fun…. for me at least!


Comment from Clifford Scridlow
Time: March 14, 2015, 3:41 pm

A very happy weasel . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=d2CTVqt2wxU


Comment from mojo
Time: March 14, 2015, 5:11 pm

100,000 digits of Pi:

http://www.geom.uiuc.edu/~huberty/math5337/groupe/digits.html


Comment from Nina
Time: March 14, 2015, 6:14 pm

Yuris, I did have to google some terms. 🙂


Comment from BrendaM
Time: March 14, 2015, 8:44 pm

Happy Pi Day Mojo! I was hoping I wasn’t the only one celebrating. 🙂


Comment from Deborah HH
Time: March 14, 2015, 10:34 pm

I’ve read very little science fiction, but I thought Ric’s book was a great story. I bought it the same day you blogged about it, Stoaty—June 2, 2011 (I checked my Amazon account). It was a story that I could easily imagine in my head, and I’ve enjoyed reading again several times. I may have left a comment a time or two on Ric’s blog, but nothing more than that. He lived north of the Hill Country, and I lived on the southern rim, but I can’t remember his town.


Comment from Yuris
Time: March 14, 2015, 10:39 pm

Deborah,

Ric’s hometown is Mineral Wells, TX. I know for a fact that he served in the Navy and I’m pretty sure he served on an aircraft carrier. I wish I knew which one….


Comment from mojo
Time: March 15, 2015, 3:22 am

Now, I’m not one to say “I tol’ ya so!”, but, well…

The Puppetmaster Revealed


Comment from Oceania
Time: March 15, 2015, 8:38 am

‘This website is suspicious .. ‘ – nice link!


Comment from S. Weasel
Time: March 15, 2015, 12:44 pm

Which one, O? I didn’t get a warn-off and I run the for-pay version of Malwarebytes.


Comment from Can’t Hark My Cry
Time: March 15, 2015, 12:51 pm

Thanks, Stoaty. I saw his post on Ric’s website, but didn’t know he had started the page. Agreed, Ric would have been pleased–on a number of levels.


Comment from Yuris
Time: March 15, 2015, 5:33 pm

I’ve added a “Missing Man Formation” entry to the site this morning. Seemed fitting somehow…..


Comment from Stark Dickflüssig
Time: March 15, 2015, 6:15 pm

Oceania was probably whackin’ it to fatchicksinpartyhats.com (aww, it’s defunct now) & forgot where he got the link. It happens to the best of us sometimes.


Comment from mojo
Time: March 15, 2015, 7:35 pm

Intellectual Frog-legs: Enjoy

https://vimeo.com/122222693


Comment from JuliaM
Time: March 16, 2015, 5:44 am

I bought ‘Temporary Duty’ just on the strength of reading his comments at PW and it didn’t disappoint. He is very much missed.


Pingback from dustbury.com » Permanent exhibition
Time: March 24, 2015, 11:43 am

[…] link at the site. And at the very least, you ought to look at the cover art, by the estimable S. Weasel, who wrote thusly about this project: It sold well enough that he spent his last days arguing with […]


Comment from Yuris
Time: July 24, 2015, 3:05 pm

Ric died exactly 3 years ago, July 24th, 2012. My deepest condolences to his family and friends! I never knew him personally, but he changed my life nonetheless. Rest in peace Ric, you will be in our memories forever!

I’ve set up a personal page for Ric on my site, to my knowledge the only one in existence. If you’d like to contribute personal information about Ric (the name of the aircraft carrier he has served on, for example) please contact me!

Yuris
temporaryduty.org


Comment from Ric Fan
Time: July 25, 2015, 12:53 am

RIP, Ric! Thanks for commenting, Yuris.

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