

Nerds in Mourning: A friend, father, and founder leaves us - adamgedde

Today, the dev community in Minneapolis got word that the wreckage of the private plane piloted by the CEO of The Nerdery, Luke Bucklin, was found in the mountains east of Jackson Hole Wyoming. The plane had been missing for more than a week. Luke, and his three sons, were returning home from a family vacation. There were no survivors.<p>Most of you probably don't know of the organization called The Nerdery (http://www.nerdery.com). They're a group of 120 nerds in Minneapolis who are technological wizards - building mobile apps, web apps, legacy apps - any app you can imagine - they've probably built it. And you've probably also seen their work out there in the interwebs, too.<p>They're also the creators and sponsors of The Overnight Website Challenge (http://overnightwebsitechallenge.com/), where once a year 10-15 development teams of 10 people each gather together to donate 24 hours of their time to build websites for local non profits. That's well over 2500 hours of hard core hacking, donated for FREE, to groups in need, every year. This organization has done good - a lot of it.<p>Most of you didn't know Luke. Some of you did. Some of you might know someone who worked at or works at The Nerdery. Some of you might actually still work at The Nerdery. Either way, Luke was a guiding force that made, makes, and will continue to make The Nerdery an awesome place to work for people who love code, technology, and all things nerdy.<p>To quote my friend and former colleague @malbiniak: "He proved that you can build a successful business, based on passion, and maintain decency in the process. The more sincere the effort, the more genuine the return. Best. ROI. Lesson. Ever." That defines Luke, and the team at The Nerdery.<p>I'm a relative newbie here, and realize I run the risk of getting flamed for this post. There are other tragedies in the world, all deserving of our attention - not just this one. But the dev community in Minneapolis is mourning right now, and so are members of this (Hacker News) community, and I don't really give a shit if posting here pisses someone off.<p>If it's your thing, head over to http://blog.nerdery.com or http://www.lukeandginger.com/, or follow the conversation on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/#!/search/%23LukeComeHome.<p>Also, please take a moment to read the thank you messages for the search and rescue teams involved in this effort: http://thanks.lukeandginger.com/
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mechanical_fish
I'm terribly sorry for your loss, and for the enormous shock to Luke's family
and friends. My condolences.

 _I run the risk of getting flamed for this post._

This seems to me to be a perfectly appropriate place for a memorial.

Apropos of which: Is it inappropriate, in a memorial for a wonderful hacker,
to point out that the web is obviously incomplete because it doesn't yet
contain an obvious, recognized spot for memorializing wonderful hackers? Or,
for that matter, memorializing anyone else?

Since I myself would be honored if people spent a portion of my memorial
service in a design debate, preferably one fueled by high-quality pizza and
beer, I'll go ahead and plant this idea here. May someone wiser than I make it
work.

An online memorial site is a pretty tough challenge in social media design. It
poses big moderation and privacy problems, and it would have to be
monetized... delicately. Very delicately, lest the ghost of Jessica Mitford
haunt everyone involved.

<http://www.mitford.org/nytimes.htm>

~~~
revorad
1000memories (YC) is doing something like that - <http://1000memories.com/>

~~~
Bretthuneycutt
I'm a founder of 1000Memories, and this is precisely what we're trying to do.
Please feel free to check out our site, and if we can be of personal
assistance, please get in touch with me directly at brett [at] 1000memories
[dot] com

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sokoloff
I didn't know Luke or his family, but as a private pilot and father/husband,
this story saddens me for the non-zero possibility that my own wife and kids
would be left in a similar situation.

Because different people grieve in different ways, and I suspect a non-zero
number of "us" will want to know more about the incident, I offer the
following two resources, not for macabre voyeurism, but for those who want to
perhaps understand more of the technical details. I know that these sites have
been helpful to me in the (fortunately very few) times in the past when I've
lost pilot friends of mine.

The FAA site will likely have the basic data posted tomorrow:
[http://www.faa.gov/data_research/accident_incident/prelimina...](http://www.faa.gov/data_research/accident_incident/preliminary_data/)

The NTSB will have a preliminary report in a few days, and a final report will
be months in coming:
[http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/AccList.asp?month=10&year=2010](http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/AccList.asp?month=10&year=2010)

If those resources are helpful to just one person close to Luke and family, it
was worth the 5 minutes it took to post this.

~~~
adamgedde
Wow. This is fantastic. Thank you for taking the time to post this response.
I'll pass this information along to those close to the Nerdery and the Bucklin
family.

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adamgedde
Here are the links from the original post since they didn't show up as
clickable above:

<http://blog.nerdery.com>

<http://www.lukeandginger.com/>

<http://twitter.com/#!/search/%23LukeComeHome>

<http://thanks.lukeandginger.com/>

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zachster
Thanks for the nice memorial. I didn't know Luke, but it sounds like he's
leaving behind a great example and a lot of inspiration.

~~~
adamgedde
Thanks for taking the time to comment, @zachster.

~~~
endgame
Remark: this isn't twitter. Because replies are automatically threaded, you
don't need to include @name.

~~~
adamgedde
Thanks @endgame. Err.....endgame :) Habits die hard.

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vagsmith
"The more sincere the effort, the more genuine the return. Best. ROI. Lesson.
Ever" So simple yet so few are able to follow it... Terrible loss.

~~~
adamgedde
Thanks for your response.

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OnorioCatenacci
Anyone who would flame you for writing this would be a jerk--not worth
worrying about.

I am sorry for your loss. It sounds as if the world has lost a decent person
who used his gifts to give something back.

~~~
adamgedde
Thanks for taking the time to read.

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shaunxcode
This is immensely tragic, never let yourself be made to feel that pain is
relative and thus unimportant. I can not imagine what those close to them are
going through.

~~~
adamgedde
Thanks for your comment.

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electromagnetic
I didn't know Luke, or any of the Nerdery team, but nevertheless I likely had
infinitely more in common with him than any stranger I would pass on the
street.

As I am sure many here will agree, it is always a tragedy that someone so
talented should pass before their time, especially under these circumstances.

My condolences are with the family and friends, for all their losses right
now.

~~~
adamgedde
Thanks for your comment, and your support. I will pass this along to the team
at The Nerdery.

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yock
I'm an aviation enthusiast and I've been watching this situation pretty
closely. Thanks for bringing this to the HN community.

~~~
adamgedde
You're welcome. Thanks for reading and taking the time to respond.

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randfish
I never met or knew Luke or the team at Nerdery, but all the same, I'm glad
you posted this. It's a very sad thing to lose a member of our community,
particularly one so accomplished and beloved. My thoughts are with you all.

~~~
adamgedde
Thanks for your response. Years ago I cut my SEO teeth with Eric Ward and
Lance Loveday, two of your peers in the biz. Don't chat with Eric much, but
had breakfast with Lance this past summer when he was in Minneapolis.

Seeing your reply reinforces what I've observed in amazement today.....we're
all connected in some way, just trying to get by, do good work, and offer a
helping hand whenever we can. It's a small world, indeed. Thanks much Rand -
I'll pass this along.

------
jonnathanson
I didn't know Luke personally, but having certainly followed The Nerdery for a
short while and having met some of its cohort, I am grateful for the legacy
Luke built. May he rest in peace, even as his work continues.

~~~
adamgedde
We all are. Thanks for taking the time to read and respond.

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js2
My deepest sympathies to Luke's family and friends. There is no reason for you
not to share the memory of him and his sons here. Again, my condolences.

------
SabrinaDent
I didn't know of Luke or even of him but I am sorry to hear that your
community has lost such a towering figure. I am particularly sorry for his
wife; to lose your husband and three of your six children would be
unimaginably horrifying and I cannot imagine the depth of her grief or that of
the remaining kids. My thoughts are with all of you.

~~~
adamgedde
Thanks for your reply. I will pass this along to the team at The Nerdery.

------
raju
I have heard of The Nerdery, but was completely unaware of this. My sincere
condolences to you. The hacker community lost someone who was so accomplished.

I hope his family finds solace, and strength. My heart goes out to them.

Thank you for posting, and sharing this tragic piece of news. I know everyone
at HN will appreciate it.

~~~
adamgedde
Thanks for taking the time to read, and respond.

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malbiniak
thanks, g. been a rough week around here. we're all thankful for the chance to
get to know him, learn from him, and carry on the legacy. more so, we're
relived the family finally has closure.

to the HN community in general, please use this as an opportunity to keep
things in perspective. we're all out trying to do amazing things, and those
things can pull at our resources -- time with family, friends, and other
things that keep us centered. luke was incredible about supporting our life
work balance, and i hope you guys and gals on the front lines remember to do
the same. take care of yourselves.

last, to your point about the thanks site, this one really stuck out:
<http://thanks.lukeandginger.com/index/detail/id/324>

~~~
adamgedde
NP. There's a lot of good out there from HN heading the way of the Nerdery.
Let the rest of the guys know.

Thanks for the support, HN.

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vishwasbabu
Sorry for your loss and thanks for sharing a wonderful eulogy with us.

~~~
adamgedde
You bet. Thanks for taking the time to read and respond.

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wmat
Thanks for posting and my condolences.

I had not heard of Luke or The Nerdery before but reading about both now is
quite inspiring. Sounds like a fantastic company ran by a great guy.

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fishercs
This is definitely an appropriate place to post a remembrance. His legacy he
leaves will only inspire others, I can only regret I didn't know about his
goodwill until now.

~~~
adamgedde
Thanks for your reply. If you'd like to learn more about the events of the
past week, as well as additional background on Luke and The Nerdery, I
encourage you to visit these links:

<http://blog.nerdery.com>

<http://www.lukeandginger.com/>

<http://twitter.com/#!/search/%23LukeComeHome>

<http://thanks.lukeandginger.com/>

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devmonk
Sorry to hear that. :( Please send our condolences to his surviving family and
friends. I think that Billy Joel was right when he said, "Only the good die
young."

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jbseek
Thanks Adamgedde for posting this on HN. I'm from Minneapolis and we lost a
great figure in this community.

R.I.P Luke you were an inspiration.

~~~
adamgedde
Thanks for the 'local' comment. There has been a ton of support here in the
Twin Cities, as I'm sure you've seen. I'll be passing along the groundswell of
support from HN to the team at The Nerdery. Thanks again.

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kemiller
Three sons implies a wife, or at least a mother, not present in the plane. She
must be completely devastated. :(

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paulnelligan
Sorry for your loss, I can't see how anyone would flame you for this post.

~~~
adamgedde
Thanks for your comment, and for taking the time to read and reply.

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qeorge
I'm sorry to hear that brother. Thank you for posting.

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shotgun
Rest in peace, Luke Bucklin. Minnesota will miss you.

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bkudria
.

~~~
adamgedde
Brief, and to the point, literally :) Thanks for reading.

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tunaslut
R.I.P.

