Selig sind, die da Leid tragen
I've known Greg... Outlaw X... for man... 15 years now? He was a long time reader of Vox's column at WND and like me... the very day Vox started his blog... Greg was there commenting. To say he was Ilk or Dread Ilk doesn't go far enough. He was the oldest of the old school. As LL says... He was OG Dread Ilk. the funny thing is... he would have no idea what OG is and if he googled it... he'd be mortified of the title. Being a redneck gun guy... Greg and I hit it off immediately... and I will go so far as to say that Greg was instrumental in the creation of the gun culture as it exists at that blog... this blog... and countless others around the web.
Die mit Tränen säen, werden mit Freuden ernten
Early on my brother... JACIII and I made contact with Greg outside of the blogs. He and his dad had written an absolutely brilliant ballistics calculator which he shared with us. Outlaw would take no credit for this... but that's his way. He gave all the credit to his dad. Never the less his finger prints were all over it as well. I cannot express how advanced this program was for its time. Sure there are better ones available now... but this was written in the late 80s... and was available in the 90s. We were using it in the early 2000s and it was, at the time, the only ballistics calculator we ever found that predicted our own real world results.
Denn alles Fleisch, es ist wie Gras
So many memories from Outlaw over the years... his fascinating views on Catholic Prophesy... which I know most of us never even knew existed were endlessly entertaining. And I won't lie... when he told me Benedict would step down I laughed at him. The kind of men who rise to become Pope don't step down. But sure enough he did step down. Outlaw called it over year before it happened. That did not pass without notice.
Aber des Herrn Wort bleibet in Ewigkeit
And for all his bluster and fuss... and lord he could get riled... Greg had a giant heart of gold. I knew it. Bane knew it. Vox knew it. Most of you knew it. If a friend was wronged he simply couldn't abide it. He would go out of his way to mend it... to make it right. The same guy who offered to fight Vox... would call into radio shows to defend Vox... and honestly guys... Medved's wasn't the only one. My own example came when somehow Bane got the crazy idea that I had insulted his wife. This rankled Outlaw something aweful because he knew I would never do such a thing. We all know how Bane could be... but rather than simply accepting that Greg pestered him... over and over about me. Then finally I remember one night I had read about Johnny's troubles and I had posted a brief prayer for him and put up a link to the paypal account. I've never told anyone but I had been donating to help out with Bane's little boy for a long time... somehow Greg knew and asked Bane to go check and see the donations and see if he could spot a pattern. Not long after that Bane emailed me... thanked me... and while we were not friends like we were in the beginning... we were definitely civil. I still have no idea how Greg knew I was giving. This is the first time I've told anyone as far as I know.
Die Erlöseten des Herrn werden wiederkommen
I guess it was the mid 2000s when Greg and I started regularly communicating outside the blogs. Email mostly but the occasional phone call from Texas was always welcome. I wish I could dredge up all the old stuff he sent... I've got videos of his crazy redneck antics that aren't fit for human eyes... and yet I will cherish them for ever. The man was an absolute riot. Every bit the character in person he was in the digital world.
Freude, ewige Freude
When we started the blogtalk radio show... I knew Outlaw would be one of the guys I had to get an interview with... but as always... even when he was in the worst of health... he went far beyond what we hoped for. He made himself a regular contributor on the show and I can honestly say... any episode that had Outlaw involved... was instantly a great success.
Greg. I said it many times... but not enough. I love you. I love you as a friend and as a brother. I live with very few regrets from my time on this wretched rock... but one... is that I never had the privilege of shaking your hand.
I will remedy that one day.
Until then... I am planning to take your lesson to heart. After talking to DrWho for a while I've decided to make a list. There are friends around this world I've never met... and I will not make the same mistake with them. I will shake their hands. And when we do we will raise a glass to you Greg.
Rest well.
You ran your race well.
God bless you and your kin.
22 comments:
Well said.
Then you'd better show up for the Ilkmoot this summer because there's going to be quite a few of us. It will be dedicated to EP.
if it is at all possible... I will be there.
Amen
I should've pointed out.. Greg never took any compensation for BallisticPro. We threw money at him for it and he consistently refused.
I wish I had mentioned that in the post...
Great post, Nate. I look forward to meeting you someday as well. God Bless you and your family.
It says three guys in my post because I didn't have Wheeler in there originally, which was crazy.
The best of all this is that Bane can't defend himself right now, but would be pissed at me for putting him in that company. Shoulda chucked Pat Buchanan in there too, that would complete his anger.
Equus Palus was a lot of fun. He was one of the most knowledgeable people about Catholic doctrine that I ever met.
He'll be missed.
and rifles. The man was a rifle guru as well.
Nice post Nate, very nice. You are right, he was very old school and darn proud of it.
There are lots of the old commenters that I miss from the early days. They made life entertaining and I always learned something from all of you guys.
I still think my favorite stuff was when Bane would heckle Morgan of the Lake by mooing at her. That is all he would do, just moo and it would send her into hissy fits of hilarity. Then SpaceBunny would move in for the kill. Ahh, good times.
"and rifles. The man was a rifle guru as well."
And primitive bowhunting.
Anyone who hunts feral hogs with a simple bow has some balls.
Man. That's a bummer about Greg. I mean, everybody's gotta go, but it still sucks. Greg and I disagreed about most of his Catholic stuff, but he was one of the Good Guys, no doubt.
-Bill
Greg and I disagreed about most of his Catholic stuff,
Me too. What made him a cut above was that he knew why he believed what he believed.
Almost every catholic I've ever met didn't have a clue what they believed or what their church taught beyond what they remembered from confirmation class. EP was different in that he understood what the RCC was saying, why they were saying it and who it was that developed that particular doctrine.
I disagreed with him too, but he did his homework and understood more about his faith than some "bible believing" protestants that I've known. I give him credit for that because his faith was based on knowledge and not because he happened to be brought up in that church.
It's rare in RL that I met people like that, even in church. He had a good handle on the who, what, when, where and why of Catholicism. If you wanted an argument he'd give it to you. If you wanted to understand why he believed something he'd explain that too.
Absolutely, Res.
Greg was the best informed Catholic I ever met. And I think, deep down, he also understood the problems many Christians had with Catholicism. But I think he had such a strong cultural affinity for Catholicism because he understood how much good the Catholics have done over the centuries (something that most Christians really, really don't get) that he was simply willing to defend them warts and all.
-Bill
I did not really know him, other than by association with Nate and Vox's blogs. However, I knew that he was a salt of the earth kind of man. I look forward to hanging out with him in the Kingdom.
Bill,
Another point that he made once was that the RCC had done more to fight abortion than any other church. They've done more to promote natural families and that their approach to the topic was more consistent than any in the protestant world.
He was right.
He convinced me that traditional catholic teaching on the topic was more in line with the biblical standard than anything being promoted in the protestant world. It hurt at the time to admit it, but he was right.
He was also right about Catholics doing more good work i.e. hospitals, orphans homes etc.
Nate, there was a podcast where Vidaad was unavailable and it featured Outlaw as the main guest for most of the hour. You ought to post a link to that one. I particularly enjoyed it.
Greg was wise enough to realize that a Church made of flawed men would be flawed so he didn't bother pretending it wasn't. He didn't hold it to impossible standards and he didn't hold other churches to impossible standards either.
I bet money Greg would've shared Communion with us.
I bet money Greg would've shared Communion with us.
I bet he would have said it in Latin.
He is a good man, and missed.
You made me cry before the first cup of coffee.
This is a beautiful tribute.
Sorry to say Nate but while I've read Vox's blog for a little over ten years this is the first time I've visited yours, and while I'm mostly content to be in the shadows and watch the proceedings without commenting, I occasionally do, and on a few of those occasions I was fortunate to have my comments be noticed and addressed by Outlaw. Indeed he was of the Dread Ilk OG, and among the best and most prolific commenters. Rest in peace brother. We'll see you on the other side.
Excellent tribute, Nate.
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