Clay Bond, aka RightWingProf, died yesterday, after a brief but hard fight against a sudden onset of inoperable cancer. He was a good man who I never did manage to meet in person; we were always just missing each other at the State College McCain campaign office. I learned a lot from him, even if we never did agree on whether data was a plural or a collective noun.

The university has lost a great teacher, the county has lost a wise and active citizen, and the internet a vital voice distinguished by its clarity, sanity, and sincerity. The world is a smaller and poorer place for his departure from it.