Remember Aaron Swartz

For Aaron

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 15:05:13 -0500

I am deeply touched by the many contributions and friendships Aaron made in his so very short life. He seemed to represent the best in humanity, as he put himself out there boldly and brilliantly to challenge the forces that many of us accept as givens. Sensitive people who dare to chart their own paths will find powerful friends as well as foes. No foe, however, can defeat the spirit of such a beautiful soul like Aaron. I grieve for what he must have had to live through in the past few years and am so sorry for his partner, family, and friends. It is now up to us to take over from where he left off. I will try to do my part.

Aaron reminds me of the “cosmos” flowers that stand strong and tall and proud and beautiful in the gardens that they grace.

Rhonda Reinert

New Mexico

Hi Aaron, I wish I had the opportunity to know you before you left us. In the words of George...

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 15:03:00 -0500

Hi Aaron,

I wish I had the opportunity to know you before you left us. In the words of George Bernard Shaw,

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

You were one of the brightest & most unreasonable men we had. With your sad & tragic passing, it is up to us to carry on your work and do our part.

May the tears

in our collective eyes

help energize us

to clear our collective minds

to see injustice better &

to try to make progress in this world

for the limited time we have.

Goodbye, Aaron.

dear aaron, we have never met, but I feel deeply connected with you. I know that we shared the same...

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 15:03:00 -0500

dear aaron,

we have never met, but I feel deeply connected with you. I know that we shared the same spirit of freedom in which there is no guilt, no hate and no fear. I share the pain of all the people that grieve for you. we all share our grieve and the precious memories we have of you and your free spirit. you were my brother, and in my heart, you will remain my brother forever.

Appreciating Aaron

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 14:59:01 -0500

And last, we agreed that the existing tech landscape has barely begun to produce the kind of powerful toolkits that will result in a publicly-accountable, empirically-based representative democracy. Online activism was just one of his many projects & interests, but he was always game to take a critical view of the landscape with me. Aaron’s felt sense of social justice was massive, complex, visceral. I’ll do my best to continue to dedicate my work towards his inspiration.

- David Moore

http://www.participatorypolitics.org/appreciating-aaron/

I didn’t know Aaron. My sincere condolences go to his family and friends. What a wonderful...

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 14:57:07 -0500

I didn’t know Aaron. My sincere condolences go to his family and friends. What a wonderful person Aaron must have been! And what a loss his tragic death means to all people who believe that freedom shall never be taken for granted. The U.S. government’s case against Aaron will be closed. The government has lost it forever, that is for sure now and the only consolation.
- Michael from Switzerland

I didn’t know Aaron, and hadn’t heard of him til I read the article. So sad to lose a...

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 14:55:49 -0500

I didn’t know Aaron, and hadn’t heard of him til I read the article. So sad to lose a young person, who should’ve had his whole life ahead of him. He sounds like he was a fine, young man, with strong convictions. It’s sad he was pushed emotionally over the edge. I wish the government or some corporations could have found some jobs for him to do, as I’m sure they would’ve benefited from his expertise. I’m sure he was dreading being in the justice system in the past agonizing year and a half. I agree the punishment didn’t fit the “crime”, as he didn’t have any victims- some were just inconvenienced or embarrassed that they didn’t have security precautions in place. RIP, Aaron. So sorry this was the only way you saw to become totally free and find peace. As someone who normally searched and examined multiple options, you must have been bearing an unbearable load. I hope our justice system learns to use discretion in certain cases, and encourages entities to use responsible security features/precautions, to prevent abuse of their data.
- Alicia Silva

Aaron was from the beginning a powerful combination of smart,...

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 14:53:00 -0500

Aaron was from the beginning a powerful combination of smart, creative, collaborative and idealistic, and was drawn to groups of developers and activists who shared his passion for what the Web could become. He joined and helped the RSS 1.0 and W3C RDFgroups, and more often than not the difference in years didn’t make a difference. I’ve seen far more childishness from adults in the standards scene, than I ever saw from young Aaron.

Remembering Aaron Swartz

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 14:51:50 -0500

“Aaron was from the beginning a powerful combination of smart, creative, collaborative and idealistic, and was drawn to groups of developers and activists who shared his passion for what the Web could become. He joined and helped the RSS 1.0 and W3C RDF groups, and more often than not the difference in years didn’t make a difference. I’ve seen far more childishness from adults in the standards scene, than I ever saw from young Aaron.”

- Dan

http://danbri.org/words/2013/01/13/815

My condolences and rememberences of a great an intelligent mind

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 14:21:09 -0500

I have had the opportunity of meeting and working with Aaron on several occasions in my work with non profit, political organizations. He was a brilliant man and a kind and tender soul. On a couple of occasions I was able to share a beer or two with him and discuss various issues and his fervor for freedom of information would always shine through. He will be missed, not just as an advocate and force for transparency, but for his humanity and for just who he was. Rest in Peace Aaron, may you continue to inspire and hold a mark we should work to achieve.
- Mike Krejci

The world has lost a brilliant visoinary

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 14:19:00 -0500

Aaron was truly a brilliant visionary. Not just in tech…but in the way the world should be. Kind, compassionate and caring for others more than himself, he will be missed by all who knew him and even those who only knew of him. The world will be a far different place without him…
- Robert Santellan

Memories of Aaron

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 14:15:45 -0500

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

We will miss you Aaron…

- Bryon Cole

My memories of Aaron

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 14:14:00 -0500

The first time I met Aaron was at an Ethiopian restaurant on U Street in DC with my friends Stephanie, Adam, and Darcy in 2009. It was the very beginning of the founding of the PCCC. We sat outside on green plastic chairs. I don’t remember that I knew anything about him during that meal, but I liked him immediately. We talked about the internet and programming, that’s all I recall. And I remember thinking — what a sweet, geeky, interesting, introvert - he’s my kind of person.

Aaron was briefly a fellow at NOI, through which he wanted to understand the Hill, so he went to spend time with our mutual friend Matt in a congressional office. When talking about his experience later, he said — It doesn’t make sense why more people don’t just go over to the Hill and talk to the people in the offices to try and get them to do what we want. It sounds simple, but that statement showed a clarity about our political process that most of DC still fails to understand.

It wasn’t until late 2012 that I started to understand what was happening with the prosecution of Aaron, and the potential for decades of jail time. I talked to his partner Taren and our friend Becky. The last time I saw him was at my house in December of 2012 after the Rootscamp conference. We spent time together late into the night, with some my favorite people in organizing - Becky, Mia, Patrick, Nicole, Tom, Anna, Jonathan - and Aaron and Taren. I remember saying goodbye to them in the early hours of the next day, as they walked out the front door, into the calm, dark, chilly night.

Taren emailed me before the holidays to say the trial had been pushed back to April 1, and it was welcomed good news. It was the last I talked to either of them until I heard the news of Aaron’s death yesterday. I am heartbroken for the loss of Aaron. For Aaron’s family and for his partner Taren. For the future that would have been better with him in it. And I am angry at the prosecutor, for making the last two years of his life so very difficult and his future so uncertain.

- Judith Freeman

In memory of Aaron Swartz

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 13:29:17 -0500

At an age of 50 I came to know Aaron Swartz’s human voice on the internet and his struggle to keep the net free and independent. It’s so sad that he is dead and economic forces are much to blame. We can honor him by continuing the struggle against legislations that will narrow the internet down to economic interests only. An independent internet can destroy despots and dictatorships. The money is bound. The spirit is free!

With regards,

Aud Jorunn Hakestad, Norway

We met over a decade ago and didn’t stay in touch but even that was enough to know you were a...

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 13:26:46 -0500

We met over a decade ago and didn’t stay in touch but even that was enough to know you were a special human. We are robbed of something precious to have lost you so young.
- Manar Hussain

Condolences

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 13:26:08 -0500

Aaron, I feel terrible that you saw no other option than to take your own life. I admire your courage and wish your family and friends lots of strenght. Rest in peace.
- Caren Heijne

Memories

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 13:17:00 -0500

Thanks for time you shared with worldwide followers , for your thoughts and input. We will continue your work!

- Monika Geicke-Bruder

I wish I could have helped, I wish I'd known more

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 13:16:03 -0500

I didn’t have a chance to meet Aaron Schwartz.

I had heard his name referenced to Reddit and his work throughout the years but, to my eternal shame, I never found out more about him.

Going back now at this sad time and reading, watching and listening I wish I had.

There are millions of us who use Reddit and who have benefitted from Aaron’s work. If it is possible to ‘miss’ someone you never met then that is what this is.

I feel angry about what happened and I feel sad that the world has lost such an amazing person. I wish there was something I could do.

But there is one thing I can do; I will tell people about what Aaron did and encourage them to read more and maybe, hopefully that can make a difference he would be proud of.

- Liveware

In honor of an outstanding person

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 13:16:00 -0500

Dear humanity,…

it’s a bad day for all of us, loosing such a stunning person full of visions for a better world.
Although, I’m an inconsiderable young man from germany, I just wanna express my deep teariness about this loss.
The spirit of Aaron will survive and hopefully be the beginning of something beautiful new!
Deepest sympathy to his family, relatives and friends.

- Leif Schmedemann

Even though I never met Aaron, he effected my life tremendously with his work, passion, and...

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 13:08:00 -0500

Even though I never met Aaron, he effected my life tremendously with his work, passion, and commitment to his ideals. I am deeply saddened that another beautiful, yet tortured soul forgot for a moment that there is so much love for them in this world, and now they are gone. It has to stop, if you are sad depressed lonely having terrible thoughts tell me, tell anyone, tell everyone, we love you, and we can help if you do, afterwards there are only tears. - Brian McCaffrey brimcc on reddit or at gmail.com

Everybody dies but not everybody lives

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 13:07:10 -0500

I have bumped into the news of the computer wizard Aaron Swartz’s passing away from CNN late yesterday. I started reading more of the posts and news thanks to the Internet, all FREE.

As I read more and more, I recalled the stories of John Walton’s unexpected death (he created Children’s scholarship fund), as well as my hero Alex Scott, the Lemonade Stand founder’s glorious 8 years in this world ( who started the Alex Lemonade Stand Fundation ).

When time is hard and I have no money but debts, many times I have almost decided to change the route of my http://www.craneflag.com to make money, even though after at least a year’s (in hard time too) thought in deciding to make it really useful and do really no evil. Now I decided to not changing any more and to make it all FREE with useful information. Thanks Aaron.

The book “All Things Shining” is one of my favorite books, which mentioned one of Aaron’s favorite authors it seems, David Wallace. I see Mr. Aaron Swartz shining in the dawn.

This is the third memorial email or note I wrote to the family and friends in grief. First to Miss Alex Scott’s family, second to Mr. John Walton’s family.

My father passed away relative young, so I understand some of the feeling. Time heals. As part of the lyrics from Nicki Minaj’s Moment 4 Life, “everybody dies but not everybody lives”.

Andrew Wan
creator and programmer for craneflag.com