HN Explorer

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

213 points by adamgedde ↗ HN
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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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/

51 comments

[ 2.7 ms ] story [ 107 ms ] thread
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.
raquo
And it's a shame that Wikipedia does not even have a page for him. What is he, not notable enough?
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.
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.
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.

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.
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

adamgedde
I imagine Luke would be very vocal during that conversation, especially if there were pizza and beer :) Thanks for reading, and taking the time to respond.
revorad
1000memories (YC) is doing something like that - http://1000memories.com/
mechanical_fish
Wow, so they are. I can't keep track of the players without a scorecard.
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
[deleted]
(comment deleted)
bkudria
.
adamgedde
Brief, and to the point, literally :) Thanks for reading.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
qeorge
I'm sorry to hear that brother. Thank you for posting.
shotgun
Rest in peace, Luke Bucklin. Minnesota will miss you.
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.

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.
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.

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

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

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.
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.
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.