One of the reasons that Mudcat grew so quickly with so many knowledgeable people is that the database originated sort of 'locally' with Dick Greenhaus and Susan of DT, who used to attend the FSGW Getaway... and so many FSGW members were wide-ranging in both interests and travels. We had sort of a 'critical mass' with the Folk Archive of the Library of Congress to draw on.
   Once Max met Dick & Susan and decided to host the database in the fairly early days of the WWW, searches brought in great numbers of other folkies from all over the world.... with the UK being the most obvious. It was Jonathan and all the people that knew him that had seeded the garden that Mudcat grew in so easily.
   I often wonder how Mudcat would have gone if Jonathon had remained healthy as the WWW developed.