Dan Bruce Farewell Party

[Panzer1]

I guess a lot of pepole who used to be on Trailplace will also be coming here. Actually, I once belonged to his site, a long time ago.

a warm welcome to all former Trailplace members

Panzer

[johnny quest]

to compare whiteblaze moderators to trailplace's moderator is disengenuous. ive only seen attroll, dixie and rock step in when people just got way out of hand. ive seen nothing but common sense from them. wingfoot would delete you for taking a pov not in keeping with his. sure, it was his sandbox, but how sad that a man is so small. you guys give him way too much credit. he was in business. that website was his storefront...and he didnt want certain people shopping there.

[dirtnap]

Who the hell is Dan Bruce?

[Lone Wolf]

Who the hell is Dan Bruce?

the famous Wingfoot

[Blissful]

I am, and thanks. I need one.

Hiking is such a simplistic lifestyle. It was great in that way, for certain. I came back here, had to get stuff together for my hubby's scout troop this past Thursday (their court of honor night) and nearly lost it. Too much multi tasking too soon.

Only problem is Sgt Rock, once you get back from the hike you'll really want to pull your hair out then. Paul Bunyan wants to hit the trail again as it is. We already have a touch of Springer fever. And we've been back less than two weeks.

[SGT Rock]

That is why it is nice to live near the trail.

[Smile]

not important, removed

[johnny quest]

Who the hell is Dan Bruce?

exactly. in nutshell.

[The Weasel]

It sounds like you're ready for a hike, Rock. I hope yours is a great one!

What Rock says is true, but he's being overly gentle about it. Enough time has passed that if anyone was a recent "primary" at TP and is here now, they understand this Forum well.

WhiteBlaze was basically started because Dan Bruce's ego, bragging and poor manners caused the original founder of WB to start it up. It had rapid success, because there was a large pool of people who wanted to share information and companionship without being simply ejected by someone who tried to sound like the voice of God, and did so offensively.

Dan hiked the AT, but frankly didn't know more about it than many others, despite how he tried to make it sound. Nor was his influence as great as he tried to make it sound, and his false camaderie became well known by people as they went onto the trail themselves, to find that he frankly wasn't particularly well-regarded by service providers along the way, although this was sometimes said 'softly' so that they, too, didn't get blacklisted.

Rock and Troll took over WB, and have done a fine job of keeping the original spirit going: Neither one of them tries to dominate either topics or any aspect of trail life, and both are incredibly tolerant, showing a side to the Trail that is more typical than the "look at me, see how great I am" aspect that Dan came to epitomize. For those who loved Trail Place - and I did, originally, until more of it's style became apparent - the longer you are here, or on the AT, the more you'll agree: He had a forum that had some good information, and he lacked the social skills to have true friends, wanting only followers.

Stay here, and while there may be some people who will aggravate you, you'll make far more friends.

TW

[Jack Tarlin]

I think the above post is more than a little harsh.

I don't know what Weasel means by false camaraderie, but on the more than half a dozen times I met or spoke with Dan Bruce he was friendly, outgoing, and displayed a genuine interest in me and my travels, and in several cases, this was long before I became a well-known hiker. In short, I got the impression thisis how he treated everyone, and I never saw anything "false" about it. I'd be curious to know how many times Weasel has personally met and spoken with Dan Bruce in person. As he is presently not acknnowledging my existence (which is fine), perhaps someone else will ask him this.

Also, I know of NO businesses or Trail providers who were "blacklisted" or kept out of Bruce's book for punishment or for speaking ill of Bruce. In fact, he included businesses that had been removed from other guides. So if Weasel knows more about places that were "blacklisted" by Wingfoot, he should tell us about them, because I don't think they exist.

[Roland]

I agree, Jack.

The key to understanding Weasel's disdain for Wingfoot is this: Weasel offered legal advice to Wingfoot and was turned down.

If Wingfoot would rather get legal advice from the local donut shop, than from Weasel, that's his prerogative. Weasel never got over it.

[weary]

Or the word Journal LOL.

Or Bushwhack. Though I agree with Jack, that Wingfoot did many useful and friendly things over the years.

[max patch]

The key to understanding Weasel's disdain for Wingfoot is this: Weasel offered legal advice to Wingfoot and was turned down.

Could be.

I've always thot it was because Weazie went to Dan's house during his attempted thru on several ocassions and Dan refused to answer the door when Weazie knocked.

I could be wrong, tho.

[Jack Tarlin]

Roland, I'm not going to speculate on the reasons for Weasel's ill will towards Bruce. I neither know nor care to know the reasons, it isn't my business.

But I DO know that Bruce's interest in or friendliness towards hikers was not "false" or pretended, nor did he "blacklist" or threaten to blacklist people.

There has been a lot on this thread that has been unnecessary and unkind; so far, I've chosen to stay out of it. I'd thought we'd seen the end of the Wingfoot bashing threads, but I guess I was wrong. If there are embittered angry people who have nothing better to do than lash out at Dan Bruce, even tho he's essentially retiring from the hiking world, well that can't be helped. But is it too much to ask that they speak the truth when doing so?

[Roland]

Something is wrong here. I find myself in agreement with Jack Tarlin.

Nice post, Jack; carefully worded and kind demeanor.

In retrospect, my poke to Weasel was no better than his towards Wingfoot. I'm gonna go back to my corner now. Carry on.

[rafe]

Jack, as with some well-known folks on WB (possibly including yourself) the internet persona and the real-life (meat) persona may be quite different. I met WF in person in 1990 (several times) and he was a likeable, decent fellow for the most part. But on Trailplace he was a tyrant and egomaniac. I can't explain it.

[Jack Tarlin]

Terrapin's right, and of course this includes me, too.

[SGT Rock]

I hear I can be a nice guy in person too.

[Appalachian Tater]

The Internet makes people evil.

[Kirby]

Although I poked fun at his going away party, I stand behind Wingfoot, seemed like a nice man, always willing to give a helping hand, and sent me a free copy of his book when he found out about a situation that all of a sudden made it difficult to pay for his book, which I am quite pleased with by the way.

In the end, we all have our opinions about him, like him or not, he made an impact on the trail and the trail community, and his name will be known, in love or hate, in the AT hiking world for quite a while.

Kirby