TF and others (et al) ,
My personal experience with Al was minimal amounting to perhaps three or four e-mails . I WAS however hooked on HIM. His knowledge in a spectrum of disciplines amazed me. I and his best friend Elliott Warshaw aka ILMBABA herein, were to have lunch at Chilli's ( Elliott was manager) in Rapid City SD on our way to Wyoming . We were obviously aware of Al's serious illness and the time he had left and hoped our meeting (of about 3 months hence) would come to pass. Sadly, Al passed away about 3 weeks after we made the date. Although I had never met Al in person, I felt I had lost a very dear and long time friend.
I did visit his grave that year at the Fort Meade cemetery( Al was a USAF veteran) where " we shared some thoughts of what might have been ".
I, as I'm sure many here, miss him .
Also sadly, Al's wife Patty passed away of cancer 2 years later on May 5, 2007 .
Mark
PS: An interesting sidenote: Elliott Warshaw, a "confirmed" Jew converted to Christianity as a result of meeting Al's minister at the funeral. When he saw and heard the "words" spoken at the service, he understood what made Al into the person he was. Elliot took much abuse from his family for his decision to covert but he felt he had "concrete evidence (Al) " that he had made the right choice.
Please note that MY comments regarding Elliot's conversion are a paraphrased version of HIS OWN words from a post he entered here on FAOL shortly after Al's death. My only intent in referencing this is to illustrate just who was Al Campbell and the impact/influence he had on others.
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