Mr. Morden tribute thread

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Since we of the mod team have confirmed the worst--that Mr. Morden's death late last year was not a sick joke and that he has in fact left this dusky stage--I thought a serious, dedicated tribute and memorial thread was in order.

This is a serious blow to the forum, to the scientific fields to which he apparently contributed in his offline life, and, most of all, to his friends and family. He'll be mourned and missed by thousands, which is more than most of us will be able to say.

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

RIP to a real legend of the community, the only poster who kept his partisan views inscrutable through 18 years and 44,085 posts. Quite sad and shocking... it feels so awkward to only get to know this eight months after the fact, although we should really be thankful we got to know this for certain at all given this is an anonymous forum.

[PSOL]

It…it wasn’t a joke?

Dear god…

RIP to a legend

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

It…it wasn’t a joke?

Dear god…

RIP to a legend

I understand and share that first instinct, given the forum's history with exactly this sort of ill-judged attempt at humor, but no, sadly it's confirmed. That really is his mother and she really is informing us of his death.

[Alben Barkley]

It…it wasn’t a joke?

Dear god…

RIP to a legend

I understand and share that first instinct, given the forum's history with exactly this sort of ill-judged attempt at humor, but no, sadly it's confirmed. That really is his mother and she really is informing us of his death.

I honestly still can hardly believe it. If it was anyone but you I'd still be questioning it, but I don't think you're the type to drag a joke like this out. Wow. RIP.

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

Reposting this because I had forgotten that was originally a joke thread:

I just remembered Mr. Morden telling me one day that he is a fellow descendant of the first European-American woman born in New Netherland, meaning that we were distant cousins. We weren't the closest buds on the forum per se, but he was someone whose contributions I greatly enjoyed and will miss.

Rest in peace, cuz. A real Atlas legend with great contributions and such an interesting, impactful life that we had never known about.

[Vice President Christian Man]

RIP

[Antonio the Sixth]

That's horrifying. May he rest in peace, and my condolences to all the people who knew him personally. I know that having known him solely from sharing an online community is in no way comparable, but even so, I think his loss will be deeply felt all over this forum.

Many posters can rightfully be called Atlas institutions, but I think a strong argument could be made that Mr. Morden was the closest we had to the heart and soul of this forum. He lovingly embraced and built on Atlas memes and cultural touchstones in a way no one else could, and did so without cultivating any enmity or drama with anyone. He made this place a little bit brighter, and now it will never be the same again. RIP FF.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

RIP.
You will be missed.

[Gracile]

A terrible loss for our community. I have always admired his commitment to archiving objective election news so that members could stay informed and learn something about today’s politics. His contributions were the backbone of the presidential elections boards and will be deeply missed.

[nerd73]

RIP.
There's few people that could truly be considered an institution on this forum, and he was one of them. He will be missed.

[T'Chenka]

Very sad news. RIP Morden.

[Mr. Smith]

This is a real bummer.

He always had such good contributions, especially related to Australia.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Deeply saddened by this news. He was, to the extent that one can tell from forum interactions alone, a decent person and that's not a minor thing to be at all. RIP.

[Fuzzy Bear]

A journey of a thousand miles to Atlas Legend Status begins with a single post.

[Green Line]

So sad, he will be missed.  RIP Mr Morden, thank you for all the many years of entertaining and informative contributions.

[Penn_Quaker_Girl]

Rest peacefully, Mr. Morden.  You were always kind and friendly during our interactions. 

Thoughts with him, his family, and friends. 

[Crumpets]

I had no idea he also worked in science outside the forum. It's very rare indeed for someone to be able to be held in such high esteem across such varied fields. Even if we on the forum can't be there in person to show our respects, I'm sure many, many will. Rest in peace.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I had no idea he also worked in science outside the forum. It's very rare indeed for someone to be able to be held in such high esteem across such varied fields. Even if we on the forum can't be there in person to show our respects, I'm sure many, many will. Rest in peace.

He was an astrophysicist, apparently quite an eminent one. I'm not sure if we have a decided-upon approach yet for whether and how to allow discussion of his offline life in the context of his forum memorial, but he did some pretty impressive things, mostly in the burgeoning field of studying galaxies outside the Local Group.

If his mother checks the forum again and sees this thread, I hope she takes some comfort in how much this community loved, valued, and admired her son.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

It is truly heart breaking. Mr. Morden was easily one of my favorite posters and losing him is like a piece of the forum itself being lost.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Looks like Mr. Morden left the forum for a spell. Hasn't posted in months.

- From the Atlas Forum Leaderboard thread.

I had so hoped he was just taking a break and/or was just busy.

[OSR stands with Israel]

This is extremely sad news as he was truly a great guy and an extremely great poster . RIP Mr Morden

[GM Team Member and Senator WB]

RIP. A great poster.

[Kahane's Grave Is A Gender-Neutral Bathroom]

RIP.

[Sunmerica United - A Sunrise Production]

RIP to one of the objectively best people to ever post on the forum. Very sad day