[pn] personal update

[Mark Warschauer]

Dear friends and colleagues:

Unless you are a very new subscriber to Papyrus News, you know me as 
the founder of the list.  I asked Steve McCarthy to take over as 
editor a few weeks ago as I am coping with the tragic death of my 
beloved son, Mikey.  Steve will continue to edit the list, but I 
wanted to take a moment to thank you all for your support and briefly 
let you know how my wife, Keiko, and I are doing.

Mikey died in a tragic accident on August 8 of this year.  (Mikey's 
pictures and story are at http://members.cox.net/michaelkai). 
Because I was responsible for the accident, the legal authorities 
here launched an investigation.  After a lengthy investigation, they 
announced last week that since there was no evidence of any 
intentionality on my part, they considered what occurred a tragic 
accident and no criminal charges would be filed.

Keiko and I remain in very, very deep sadness.  It is difficult to 
find meaning in life without our beloved Mikey.  At the same time, we 
need to focus our attention on grieving and mourning, and we are 
relieved that we will be able to do so without legal distraction.  We 
can also now assist with educational efforts to try to prevent these 
accidents from happening in other families.

Today, my attorney finally gave me copies of all the character 
reference letters written on my behalf, including many by Papyrus 
News readers, and I finally had a chance to read through them.  Keiko 
and I were deeply moved by the kind and generous words that so many 
of you wrote.  I wish I was able to thank each of you individually, 
but let me just say to all of you that I greatly appreciate your 
support.

In this time of tragedy, when our future seems so dark, the support 
of our friends around the world means so much to us, and we became 
aware of that again today when we read the kind things that so many 
of you had written. Thank you so much, and God bless you.
Mark