R.I.P. SPINOZA

R.I.P. Spinoza

I regret to announce that my faithful servant and intrepid companion, Spinoza, has made his transition today.  No longer will his churlish bark echo through the halls of the FSRI.  No longer will his menacing incisors puncture the soft ankle skin of Betty, the administrative assistant in our Wichita offices.


It's not often that one finds a true and trusting comrade during our short but tumultuous sprint through this plane of existence.  Spinoza was just that.  Since the day I found him weakened and abandoned and curled up in a shoe box that was set adrift down the river Nile near our Cairo office in Egypt, I knew he was something special.  From that moment on he accompanied me in many of my most ambitious expeditions.  Spinoza has, among other things, mounted Kilimanjaro, windsurfed across the Atlantic, motorcycled over the Great Namib and even entered orbit (albeit briefly) during an air force testing mission.  He will be missed.


But on must we go...  We must raise a glass to memory, and drink to future compatriots.


I'll miss you, Spinoza, dear friend.


KWA