I am gobsmacked by those comments from one who has used this place as an outlet for years. I do not like the implication nor do I like the tone. Max has never once attempted to coerce, cheat, or make claims. In his own time, for nothing more than the love of music, he created a site that became so much more than just a surf in site. Folks, including that poster, found a community of caring people, an invaluable musical resource, a forum where the great and not so great issues of the day were discussed, and when the 3D visits happened, new friends. Rarely the day has gone by that she herself has not been here. She needs to get the hell off that high horse. Because I have had a bit more ability to travel than some, I witnessed the radio shows, and I have seen the newlywed young man with the servers beside his bed. He could barely afford rent, but he kept the site going. Rick and I used to marvel at the reasons. We knew that Max did this, even when it was a pain in the ass and a strain on his life, because he knew it was important to people. He did it because he knew there were folks for whom this was their connection with the larger world. He did it because amazing musical facts, like the Spancil Hill thread, were a signal of the vast potential. He sacrificed a lot of his own time so some woman out west could make good enough friends in Great Britain to have a place to play and stay when she went there. Max, on the other hand, hasn't had the money to go there. But he kept this place open and will continue to because he loves it, and you, more than you know.

Max, my younger friend, I am going to chastise you now. Don't you ever again answer, or lend dignity to such people with a response. Not an answer, not a smart ass comment, nothing. Virtually every soul that uses this place, and for whom it is a very important part of our lives and careers, already knows that there is no credibility in those comments. With what you have done, and with the way you are thought of by virtually all of us, it is beneath you to respond.

I will be sending you a sizable amount on the first of the month. Don't you dare bother telling me what you spend it on. If you have any sense at all, you will take that magnificent woman of yours, those kids, and that beagle, and go for dinner and a movie and put what is left over on your electric bill. Or use it to get drunk, or as a down payment on a Martin. I don't care except for one thing. Know that it comes with my gratitude for all that you have done.

With love and best wishes,

Mick