Guys, I received the sad news this morning, that yesterday morning, Ernie passed away peacefully in his sleep at home. Ernie had been battling cancer for about 5 years. It seems they did not give Ernie long to live after his diagnosis, but thanks to his strength and will, he carried on until yesterday. It is an extremely sad day for us at OUR and the OU community as a whole. I feel very deeply sad for his partner Nina, who I am sure right now is wondering if she is in a nightmare or reality. Many of you know ION as one of the most senior people on this forum, and also when he frequented OU. His knowledge and background in general electronics and audio is legendary, and his dedication to the OU community admirable. I first met Ernie on OU many years ago (2006?) when many of us were feverishly working on Steven Mark's TPU. Lindsay will certainly remember that time, and also Ernie's handle at that time (Vortex). Ernie and I also had a connection through our love of audio, guitar, guitar amps and effects. We shared many beliefs in general, and I found him to be a wonderful mentor on many topics. I had a deep respect for him, as I'm sure many of you did also. One talent Ernie had and shared was writing, and some of you may know and remember his story thread called "The Strange Case of the Turbo Light". He loved Sherlock Holmes and wrote this story under the pseudonym "SherlockHolmes". Sadly, only one post remains on OU, but I have the complete story which I will post here in this thread as an homage to "SherlockHolmes". Ernie offered to co-jointly finish the story with my assistance, but I humbly turned down the offer. I didn't want to dilute his style and storyline, and thought it better that SherlockHolmes himself complete it. I don't think it ever was completed, but what is there still remains a gem. I may write more thoughts on Ernie with time, but wanted to get this to you now. Please offer your stories, thoughts on Ernie as well! Ernie (aka ION, Vortex (Vince), SherlockHolmes) will be deeply missed. Darren
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"Some scientists claim that hydrogen, because it is so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I dispute that. I say there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the universe." Frank Zappa
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