Five blogger heroes
Walt started it, not me. C’mon, when was the last time I started anything good?
To me, a blogger hero is a blogger who has used the medium for good, really built something worthwhile off blog software. Lots of ways to do that, thank heaven. Some bloggers do it just by being who they are. Some take on the thankless task of the dutiful chronicler. Some teach others, amazingly effectively. Some advocate.
Mind you, to make this list, it’s not enough to be a hero of mine who blogs. Gotta do something special with or within the medium to qualify.
So. Here are five of my blogger heroes.
- Peter Suber. I don’t think I even need to explain this one, never mind justify it. Open Access News is an amazing feat. If it didn’t exist, how on earth would we invent it?
- The Angry Black Woman. I couldn’t do what she does. Gosh, no. I’d explode, implode, then spontaneously combust. I’m glad she’s doing it, though, and maybe her example will someday teach me not to be such a damn wuss.
- Meredith Farkas. Talk about a rocket to the moon. Meredith rode her blog all the way to librarian rock-stardom. That’s a respectable feat, and I’m happy to say I knew her when—when we were both new grads looking for our first jobs, that is! When EBSCO decided to index blogs, I just bet Meredith was why.
- Lorcan Dempsey, because he’s got a number of strikes against him in the biblioblogosphere—he works for A Vendor, he’s in a position of considerable power at said vendor, and he doesn’t shy away from talking about revolutionary stuff in a reactionary profession—but that level, urbane, discerning tone of voice never falters. It’s a great thing in a blogger. I’d say I wish I could do it, but the day I can is when hell really freezes over.
- And gone but never forgotten, the Invisible Adjunct, who said the unsayable and made it stick. I hope she’s all right. I believe she must be.
Tag. You’re it. Yes, you.