Sly.

Sly: Crafty or cunning; or, short for Sylvia or Sylvester.

"Vicki and Me celebrating her remission."

I always wondered why some people were called “Sly” when the connotations were not often thought of as nice. People would say “he is a sly bastard” and mean cunning or tricky. Sly Stallone, was he a cunning and tricky bastard? Sly Matthews, was she a cunning and tricky bastard. No, to me she was a warm woman with a generous streak a mile wide who loved to read and liked good beer from time to time.

I “met” her in a strange way though Nicola Griffith. I read all of Nicola's novels and commented on her web page and subsequently joined a Yahoo group started by Nicola. I shared a few things and Sly and a few others responded. Sly was always good for a book recommendation or a comment on something I had written. One of the early memories of Sly was her explaining how "Sylvia" became "Sly". She told me people constantly misspelled "Sylvia" so she just gave up and became "Sly".

 It is really interesting how meeting people has migrated to include ethereal contacts over vast distances of every imaginable metric, and how some of those met in the cyber sphere are friends like others met in person. Some, indeed, better.
The plan to share an hour or two with Sly and to share a brew are now history, and the friendship is now memory. Fond memories to be sure.

Thanks to NG and KE for keeping the list alive, and to all my friends on the list. Sal and I raised a glass (or two) last night to Sly.  It would be a pleasure to not only raise a glass “to” you all, but with you as well. Who knows, maybe someday?

Image: Sly’s Facebook album