Evan's RV

[Tundra Twin Track]

Williams lake. They named the town around him after he moved there. True story

Thanks Dan,was off by 200km lol!

[lynnl]

He was definitely a character. Obviously a smart guy but I could never figure out if he was the worlds biggest hypochondriac
or was actually accurately diagnosing his condition. He honestly felt that he had like a half dozen of the worlds most rarest conditions.

Would've been interesting to hear him expound on the corona virus issues.

[Willy]

Would've been interesting to hear him expound on the corona virus issues.

I'm sure by now he's had every variant and knows how to treat them.

[EddyCurr]

In May of 2015, I traveled a somewhat lengthy distance over a short period of time (accompanied by my 16 yo dog) specifically for a social visit with Evan at his home in Williams Lake. Despite interruptions to address the needs of a senior canine, it was a marvelous and altogether TOO SHORT day for me. Then I had to set a heading for home and travel back at max warp speed to turn my attention back to pressing issues on my plate at the time.

The free-for-all toward Evan that developed here once people smelled blood was appalling. I was preoccupied elsewhere and did not discover what had gone on until later. I will always regret not being around to take Evan's side to absorb or deflect the trolling. I know I am not alone in needing to face the mirror in that regard - on reflection I believe moderators, as well as members may feel likewise.

The eventual reaction was not surprising.

The loss of Evan's contributions on such a wide spectrum of topics was a great loss to the forum's knowledge base. (Anyone who responds, "Meh, not so much ..." reveals more about their own role here at HSM than about the seat Evan occupied at the table.)

From a personal perspective, not only was removal of his contributions a massively labour intensive task, I have to think that it was costly to him in an intensely personal manner. Evan never did things by half measures. The commitment, energy and time he put into creating the volume of original content he posted here is incalculable.

Evan did NOT toss off brief uninformed remarks like, "do this (I just dreamed it up. I've never tried it, who knows whether it can really been done or whether it will actually work. Good luck, sucker.)".

Evan DID post thoughtful, comprehensive remarks like "Do this. I've already done it. Here are photos, detailed descriptions, specifications and test results."

Some times such remarks drew from work Evan had done previously. But not infrequently Evan's remarks were based on extensive work he did specifically in response to the current matter under discussion at the time !

I can't speak for Evan's motivations behind the commitment, energy and time he put into creating his posts. However, I can think about the complex motivations that prompt me when I put extensive effort into my posts. How about you? Would deleting all your content be a monumental matter to you?

Did Evan ever make a mistake? Yes. Infrequently.

Still, Evan was correct FAR more often than he was wrong. Impressively so, considering how far out towards the edge he would go again and again. Who else here can point to a similar Signal-to-Noise Ratio on anything beginning to approach the depth and breadth of subject matter that Evan tackled?

Unfortunately, more recent members who didn't observe/interact with Evan have to take my word on that record of success over the word of Evan's detractors - or not. The legacy of his contributions has largely been erased, so there is not much to look at to form an objective opinion.

I say again, more's the pity.

It is a sad loss when a worthy forum member passes. It is a real tragedy when a worthy forum member is set upon and harassed incessantly to the point that he feels compelled not only to exit the community, but to delete as much as he can of what he had previously bestowed toward the forum's treasury of knowledge on his way out.

The membership rolls of the Home Shop Machinist forum have experienced a number of sad losses and some real tragedies over the years. Evan's departure is one of the latter (and there have been several of these.)

[Tundra Twin Track]

Just read a article from Times Colonist about a Evan Williams witnessing a person being struck by lightning in a Victoria RV Park May 31/2017.In the interview Evan mentioned the extreme lighting he witnessed while living in Williams Lake.Sorry wasn’t sure how how to link the Article.

[EddyCurr]

Williams lake. They named the town around him after he moved there. True story

Wrong.

The City of Williams Lake was NOT named after Evan Williams. Fake story.

[The Artful Bodger]

Evan had a wide and detailed knowledge in just about every field to be discussed on this forum however he was sadly lacking in the few fields where I can claim some meagre expertise, funny eh?

I had to laugh when he told us about landing a Link trainer just a few feet off the runway centr-line, Perhaps he had the super-enhanced version of the Link!

The invention of the Evan Nut surely gave civilization a huge shove forward but when he was shown how to make plastic gears in just a few minutes on the lathe he lost no time in 'proving' the technique would not work, nonetheless I have several such gears in our museum flight simulator and they are still going strong.

[Tim The Grim]

I think about him often …

[Rich Carlstedt]

Here you go

https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/like-mother-like-son-lightning-strikes-twice-in-same-family-4650196

Rich

[EddyCurr]

Just read a article from Times Colonist about a Evan Williams witnessing a person being struck by lightning in a Victoria RV Park May 31/2017.In the interview Evan mentioned the extreme lighting he witnessed while living in Williams Lake.Sorry wasn’t sure how how to link the Article.

Here you go. There are a few reports from different media outlets, two of them appear below

Man at Victoria RV park injured as lightning strikes nearby tree
By Jeff Bell
Times-Colonist 2017.05.31

Like mother, like son: Lightning strikes twice in same family
By Jeff Bell
Times-Colonist 2017.06.01

[Tundra Twin Track]

Here you go

https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/like-mother-like-son-lightning-strikes-twice-in-same-family-4650196

Rich

Thanks Rich I’m assuming it’s the same Evan!

[EddyCurr]

... however he was sadly lacking in the few fields where I can claim some meagre expertise, funny eh?

I had to laugh when he told us about landing a Link trainer just a few feet off the runway centre-line, Perhaps he had the super-enhanced version of the Link!

Is that to say Evan never landed ANY trainer off the runway? Or just that there was a name mix-up between the flightless Link version and whatever (Puss/Tiger Moth?) flight-enabled version Evan came down in?

[Tundra Twin Track]

Here you go. There are a few reports from different media outlets, two of them appear below

Man at Victoria RV park injured as lightning strikes nearby tree
By Jeff Bell
Times-Colonist 2017.05.31

Like mother, like son: Lightning strikes twice in same family
By Jeff Bell
Times-Colonist 2017.06.01

Thanks Eddy,it was upper one that I read.

[The Artful Bodger]

Is that to say Evan never landed ANY trainer off the runway? Or just that there was a name mix-up between the flightless Link version and whatever (Puss/Tiger Moth?) flight-enabled version Evan came down in?

Evan's Link exploits reminded me of Kin Jong Il having scored five hole-in-one the first time he stepped on to a golf course.

[Jon Heron]

In May of 2015, I traveled a somewhat lengthy distance over a short period of time (accompanied by my 16 yo dog) specifically for a social visit with Evan at his home in Williams Lake. Despite interruptions to address the needs of a senior canine, it was a marvelous and altogether TOO SHORT day for me. Then I had to set a heading for home and travel back at max warp speed to turn my attention back to pressing issues on my plate at the time.

The free-for-all toward Evan that developed here once people smelled blood was appalling. I was preoccupied elsewhere and did not discover what had gone on until later. I will always regret not being around to take Evan's side to absorb or deflect the trolling. I know I am not alone in needing to face the mirror in that regard - on reflection I believe moderators, as well as members may feel likewise.

The eventual reaction was not surprising.

The loss of Evan's contributions on such a wide spectrum of topics was a great loss to the forum's knowledge base. (Anyone who responds, "Meh, not so much ..." reveals more about their own role here at HSM than about the seat Evan occupied at the table.)

From a personal perspective, not only was removal of his contributions a massively labour intensive task, I have to think that it was costly to him in an intensely personal manner. Evan never did things by half measures. The commitment, energy and time he put into creating the volume of original content he posted here is incalculable.

Evan did NOT toss off brief uninformed remarks like, "do this (I just dreamed it up. I've never tried it, who knows whether it can really been done or whether it will actually work. Good luck, sucker.)".

Evan DID post thoughtful, comprehensive remarks like "Do this. I've already done it. Here are photos, detailed descriptions, specifications and test results."

Some times such remarks drew from work Evan had done previously. But not infrequently Evan's remarks were based on extensive work he did specifically in response to the current matter under discussion at the time !

I can't speak for Evan's motivations behind the commitment, energy and time he put into creating his posts. However, I can think about the complex motivations that prompt me when I put extensive effort into my posts. How about you? Would deleting all your content be a monumental matter to you?

Did Evan ever make a mistake? Yes. Infrequently.

Still, Evan was correct FAR more often than he was wrong. Impressively so, considering how far out towards the edge he would go again and again. Who else here can point to a similar Signal-to-Noise Ratio on anything beginning to approach the depth and breadth of subject matter that Evan tackled?

Unfortunately, more recent members who didn't observe/interact with Evan have to take my word on that record of success over the word of Evan's detractors - or not. The legacy of his contributions has largely been erased, so there is not much to look at to form an objective opinion.

I say again, more's the pity.

It is a sad loss when a worthy forum member passes. It is a real tragedy when a worthy forum member is set upon and harassed incessantly to the point that he feels compelled not only to exit the community, but to delete as much as he can of what he had previously bestowed toward the forum's treasury of knowledge on his way out.

The membership rolls of the Home Shop Machinist forum have experienced a number of sad losses and some real tragedies over the years. Evan's departure is one of the latter (and there have been several of these.)

I was around when he split but I dont recall any more trolling then usual, he seemed to be able to deal with the trolling just fine to me too.
Was there something I missed perhaps?
Often times the brightest bulbs dont play well with the normies eh...
Cheers,
Jon