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In Memory Of David Blair Drumm, 1948-2013

Last available picture of David from 2012
Last available picture of David from 2012
It is with the greatest personal sadness that I have to report the death of a cherished member of our blog family. David Blair Drumm passed away on December 18, 2013 in Austin, Texas. David was there at the very beginning of this blog and remained one of its staunchest supporters. Through the years, David was a rock who not only brought reasoned and calm analysis to posts but also to the management of the blog. He started as a regular commentator under the name “Nal” and I then invited him to write on the weekends. He played the role of editor as well as writer. (Indeed, I am worried about this memorial since David often caught the many typos that I would leave in early morning postings). I came to trust him absolutely in his judgment and analysis. I considered him a good friend and one of the most important influences on this blog. David wrote as a Weekend Blogger for years, sharing his insights into religion, politics, and his always popular “Find the Kitteh” contest. Our success is due in no small part to David Drumm and this blog, I hope, will remain a testament to his work and his memory. To that end, we are dedicating the entire blog today to David and his work. He was a brilliant electrical engineer, a profound writer, a passionate civil libertarian, and most importantly a fierce and loyal friend to our blogging community.

This news will no doubt come as a shock for the thousands of people who followed David’s writings every weekend. Indeed, it was a shock for the blog team. I became concerned at the end of December that we had not heard from David. His last email to the contributing writers was that his two planned topics for the weekend had already been covered on the blog. That was December 13th. I was not surprised therefore when he did not post that weekend and, with the holidays, I assumed that he had taken a weekend off (though that was rare since David was one of our most consistent and regular writers). At the beginning of January, I started to send messages to make sure that David was all right and received no reply. A week ago, I alerted the Weekend Bloggers that I was very concerned about David. Our team then kicked into high gear and searched for contacts for David. particularly Charlton Stanley and Darren Smith. In the midst of the search, one of our team members found a death notice for a David Blair Drumm in Austin. It was a chilling find since (while never using “Blair” in his byline, I knew he lived in Austin and went by David. B. Drumm). The team reached out to the funeral home and others in the hopes that this was not our David. A couple days ago, we received the confirmation that we were dreading. I was able to reach David’s brother, Richard Drumm, in Virginia and he confirmed that David had died between December 16th and 18th. David’s co-workers became concerned when he missed a second day at work and called police. His condo manager opened up his apartment and he was found dead. The suspicion is a heart attack. He was only 65 years old.

Picture from 1992
Picture from 1992
Since most people knew David exclusively from his Internet persona and columns, David’s life and background was largely a mystery. His family has shared details with me over the last few days. We all knew some of David’s passions like his love for 60s tunes (that I share) and often posted Golden Oldies and interesting videos. However, some details might surprise you. David held two black belts in two different martial arts. He was also an avid biker — conquering what he called “The Hill of Death” in Austin as an athletic goal.

Daid making a "sister sandwich"with his nieces in 1998
David making a “sister sandwich” with his nieces in 1998
David was born on June 30, 1948. He graduated high school in 1965 and joined the Navy — serving in anti-submarine warfare in a variety of capacities (Lockheed P-2 Neptune, Lockheed P-3 Orion, NAS Patuxent River, Rota, Spain). He then received in BS from the University of Miami around 1973 and received a master’s degree in 1978 from Georgia Tech. He would later work for E-Systems in Texas from 1982 to 1990. He then went to Southern Methodist University and earned his Ph.D in electric engineering on May 18, 1996.He then worked for Enterprise Electronics Corporation on doppler radar and moved to various cities from Alabama to Pennsylvania to Texas. He was working as senior system
architect with Coherent Logix in Austin when he died. He held various patents for devices with such daunting titles as “Parallel Execution of Trellis-Based Methods.” His book, Entropy-coded Quantization, was published in 1996 and runs 568 pages.

David’s background shows a life lived to its hilt. David loved to try new things and take on new challenges both academic and recreational. He lived his life with a quiet creativity and gusto. That love for life came out in his writings. He loved to mix the playful with the profound as subjects from optical illusions to the intolerance shown atheists in our society. He often wrote of social inequalities like a professor who lived in poverty due to the lack of basic support from her university. He often explored the use of language as he did with the use of analogies by those seeking to take the nation to war. He often called on the United States to stop propping up corrupt and abusive regimes and stand proudly with secular values of equality and civil liberties as with this criticism of the Karzai regime:

Any idea that the US will leave behind a Afghan security force and army that will thwart the Taliban is a fantasy to soothe US political opinion. The Taliban are vicious immoral thugs whose religion allows them to morally justify their actions. That the Afghanistan people will be brutalized by the inevitable Taliban theocracy is a certainty. However abhorrent, it is up to the Afghans to remedy that situation. The US does not have the resources to save Muslims from Islam. The US can show the way by our exemplification of the rights of conscience found in our secular society.

David was particularly passionate about the separation of church and state, as was evident in this criticism of Vladimir Putin: “Crazy beliefs are not exclusive to religion and are of little consequence until they have the authority of the state behind them. Vladimir Putin seems hell-bent on helping Russian Orthodox Christians turn Russia into a Christian version of Saudi Arabia.”

David last posted comments on December 15, 2013 with a comments and a video links to share with people. In his final comments, David was doing what he often did in helping people understand filter and posting mechanics on the blog.

David in third grade
David in third grade
For me, David personified this blog. He was civil but passionate in discussing a wide range of issues. David believed deeply in the first amendment and shared a strong resistance to banning writers. He also believed strongly in our anonymity rule and, most importantly, our civility rule. He had a hand in all of those policies. He was totally committed to this blog. I remember years ago that the ABA competition with another site had turned a bit ugly with allegations that people associated with the other site had published false information about us and engaged in multiple voting schemes (before new security measures were put into place). David went on the ABA site and voted. He then had the opportunity to vote again from another device and immediately felt guilty. He notified us that he felt that he had yielded to his anger and he went back on and cast additional votes for the other blog to wipe out any impact. It was quintessentially David. He was intensely loyal and fatally honest. Through the years, David would privately offer counsel on controversies on the blog. I cannot remember a single suggestion of David that I did not agree with.

David on a motorcycle in 1994
David on a motorcycle in 1994
One of the most curious aspects of blogging is that we create not simply a community but a type of family among the regulars who come daily to this site. We often never meet face-to-face but share dreams and losses within this virtual family. In a strange way, our physical remoteness brings us closer – a sense that, unlike some many mandatory relationships or associations, this is a place of our choosing or our creation. We choose each other on a daily basis. In that unique relationship, we can develop relationships that are closer precisely because they are uncluttered by physical meetings or expectations. We come to this place in search of community and conversation. It is on our own terms. No one forces us to come back or to stay. David chose to stay and we would find him here everyday with a new thought or witty aside. We would find his signature cat avatar in the comments and know that “Nal” had returned to the fold.

David playing hockey with NHL players in 1979
David playing hockey with NHL players in 1979
My Italian grandfather once warned me that the world has two types of people: people who cannot avoid doing evil and those who cannot avoid doing good. It is in their nature. David was a force for good. While some disagreed with his views, David embraced the world for all of its beauty and diversity. He despised orthodoxy and intolerance. His writing was simple and powerful and, most importantly, honest. I will miss him and his presence deeply and daily. There is of course nothing virtual about our sense of loss. It is real and personal. Yet, I have learned from the loss of family that a loss like this does not simply fade away. It remains but I have found that the pain transforms into a more positive sense of meaning from the memories of our lost friends. David left us with a host of such memories in his many posts on this blog. This cyber memorial can hardly repay him for what he gave to us but it can remind us of what he left in his passing.

Rest in peace, my friend. And thank you.

Jonathan Turley

P.S.: I want to thank David’s brother, Richard, for the pictures and background information. Rich says that memorial contributions in David’s name can be sent to http://cosmoquest.org/Donate

56 thoughts on “In Memory Of David Blair Drumm, 1948-2013”

  2. Firstly, That was a moving tribute to Nal, Mr. Turley. It was obviously from the heart. Thanks to OS and Darren for your research. Like most of us, death of a friend, family, etc. is a time of sadness and reflection. Too many try to bury their grief. My grandmother taught me the Italian way. To allow the grief to flow over you, not to fight it, but to embrace it. Your brain and your heart will ease you out of that grief if you just pay attention. I am a latecomer, but I loved the idiosyncratic posts Nal made here. My best memory of Nal will be his integrity. He made a post, and it turned out to be false, concerning the suicide of a girl. With simplicity and forthrightness, he corrected the error, being mislead by a press source. What I could tell from that was not only his honesty, but his self esteem. He knew admitting a mistake was merely pleading guilty to being human, something we all share. He did what good and smart people do, Nal turned a negative into a positive.

    We all share death. However, our culture here in the US has a pretty unhealthy attitude toward death. I usually say a prayer for the family and friends of the deceased, not the person who died. Out of respect for this marvelous atheist, I will forego that and make a donation to some cat shelter. There was a big cat rescue in SoCal, which is where I’m headed. If it’s still there, that will be my choice. However, if any of the long timers have a suggestion, I’ll be happy to hear it. This is just a suggestions, but maybe a collection of some of Nal’s more memorable posts would be nice, for those who knew him well and the newcomers who didn’t.

  3. In more than 24 years using social media bef it was called that, the attachments formed to those we only know through their writing – their insights – has been great. Nal/David was one of those people. Funny that the words you used to write about him were almost the same as those used last night at the joint service of the Sixth & I Synagogue in DC with the Turner AME (dubbed “African-Americans Marching for Equality” by a long time member ) to honor Dr. King & Rabbi Heschel. They were about decent people who are good and work for more good; who set examples and help guide others. Too young and alone did David die while a community of hundreds if thousands kept its distance. Perhaps we need to form better, closer relationships with those we admire and emulate from afar. May his memory be always for a blessing.

  4. I am very sorry to hear Nal’s passing. He will be missed. My sympathy to his family.

  5. Reblogged this on Flowers For Socrates and commented:
    Although I’ve known about David Drumm’s passing for a few days, it is nonetheless news announced with a heavy heart . . .

  6. My sincerest condolences to David’s friends and family. He was passionate, compassionate and truly interested in how to make life better for all. I, for one, will never be able to “find the kitteh” again (either literally or metaphorically) without thinking about David. He will be missed.

  7. Thanks for the post. Nal may be gone but his writing lives on and I am sure has influenced many on this site. RIP David Blair Drumm Thanks for sharing what you have with all of us.

  8. As OS stated in the corrections thread, I must correct an error in my previous posting. Know should be now! I feel David is looking over my shoulder!

  9. Right after Professor Turley invited me to be a weekend writer on this blog, Nal sent me a backchannel email making it clear in no uncertain terms (but worded most politely, of course) that find teh kitteh material was his territory, and he had dibs on those.

    I had to tell him that I wasn’t very good at those kinds of stories and had no idea where he got his material, so his iconic trademark Find The Kitteh Contest stories were safe from the likes of me.

    Nal was well liked across the blogosphere, with many of his stories being picked up and reposted. A quick check just now shows that several bloggers have already picked up this story.

    I will have more to say later today.

  10. I don’t know where to begin. I looked forward to Finding the Kitteh almost every weekend and to listening to David’s latest Golden Oldie song. David brought a sense of consistency and factual accuracy to this group on a daily and weekly basis. I agree with Prof. Turley and others here that David had a sense of calmness in all of his writings. He never preached. He only discussed and persuaded through his words and facts. I wish I could have known him personally, but I feel that in a certain sense, I did know him. I guess we all did. I know believe that it is true that the good die young. Take care David and keep an eye on us. You are missed, but we are all better off for knowing you.

  12. WOW the blog has suffered heavy losses as of late. They say things happen in three’s Mike Spindell, Gene and now David.

    RIP D and may God grant you eternal peace at the right hand to his throne.

  13. David was one with reason. We can all learn from everyone regardless of the message. The time will come when you will know the lesson learned. I too treasured his unique music. I recall asking an obscure question regarding a movie and he found the exact song. Rest David.

  15. Nal certainly was not only a consistent contributor, but a thoughtful and articulate one. Most sincere condolences to his family. RIP.

  16. The world is a duller place and we are all impoverished and saddened by his passing.

  17. Thank you for this Posting of a Veteran, no less, and the outstanding purpose he has given to his life.

  18. “In a strange way, our physical remoteness brings us closer – a sense that, unlike some many mandatory relationships or associations, this is a place of our choosing or our creation. We choose each other on a daily basis.”

    **************************

    Nal was a shaft of light in a dark world. That’s why it was so easy to “choose” his thoughts to consider along with my own every week. While he and I would disagree ever so occasionally over principle I always had the sense it was a principled man I was engaged with. That’s a rare and high tribute in today’s world of plastic sentiments, veneered passions and veiled self-interest. David’s was a genuine passion and he coupled it with a gentlemanly voice. That nevers goes out of style.

    Ave Atque Vale!

  20. How saddened I am by Nal’s passing away so suddenly. Thanks for posting his pictures and background. Isn’t it strange to learn so much more about a person in their death than in their life. He will be missed. Rest in peace, David Blair Drumm.

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