Just yesterday I was wondering where she’d been lately, anticipating one of her periodic returns to the board.
This sucks.
Wow,
I met her once at an NYC Dopefest. She was charming and beautiful and she let me, and anyone else, draw on her head.
wow, just… wow
Terrible news. RIP, Opal.
Well, shit. RIP, Opal.
I haven’t been around here for a long while but remember OpalCat well from the early 2000s. Very sad news, condolences to her friends and family.
Wow, such shocking news! Peace, Opal.
Can I just say that it’s really amazing to see a whole lot of old-time posters come out of the woodwork (so to speak) to pay respects to Opal?
It’s pretty nice, and reinforces the ‘community’ that the SDMB epitomizes.
Cheers all.
My condolences to her family.
I knew of Opal years before I found the SDMB, she was a bit of a legend on livejournal, as mod of Mock the Stupid and a regular of the snark comms there too.
She was like a force of nature, well, maybe in this case, a force of the internet, as she’s had such an impact on so many sites. It doesn’t seem real that she’s gone.
RIP, Opal.
And may her family have strength in these sad times.
I’m so sorry to hear of this, she was part of the fabric of this community.
My condolences to her family. Terrible news.
Airman called me last night with the news.
I met Opal several times over the years at various Dopefests and in the old straightdope IRC chatroom when we were both regulars.
That being said, I sort of agree with twickster. While her struggles with depression were public knowledge, I don’t think we have the right to turn her into a poster child for anything, and this is especially true because we don’t know all the facts. She was pretty public about many of her problems, but she still had a private life and she had a family that should be able to mourn in peace. If they choose to divulge the cause of death, then fine. But if not, we should respect that and not engage in speculation.
I think one thing we can be sure of is that she took all of them down with her, and at least the struggle is over for her. I didn’t interact with her much but have been reading her posts for years, sometimes laughing with her, sometimes laughing at her, but always acutely aware that she was a character in the very best sense of the word. May she be at peace.
Just gutted.
Vade in Pacem, Opal.
And my prayers and thoughts for her family and friends.
Too soon. Don’t even know what else to say.
Well put Baker. Opal, Dominic and her whole family are in my thoughts and prayers. What a sad day for this whole community!
I met Opal on the Scifi channel’s message board for First Wave, a TV show starring Sebastian Spence. She had, I believe, created the official website for him(I assume that has been long, long ago replaced).
At the time, I was two seasons behind and needed to catch up on the show. I’m not sure, but I think it was Opal who, and I’m not kidding, made and sent me copies of the first two seasons…on VHS tape. Huge pain, but she loved Sebastian and wanted to spread the enjoyment.
I pointed out all Sebastian Spence spottings to her over the year. He pops up on plenty of things(Battlestar, Supernatural, etc.).
Deeply, deeply, saddened to hear that she has died. First Autolycus, a good Doper friend, and now her.
I have seen her livejournal and either it has been changed or I am missing it. Would someone kindly PM me with details on what actually happened? Thanks.
This is a really sad day for everyone here.
Wishing peace and comfort to her family.
Godspeed, Opal.
I’m very sorry to hear this. Opal was one of the first Dopers I met, at an NYC Dopefest. She and Nicky were among a group of us to go to the Central Park Zoo. She and I were not close, but as many have said, she was a defining part of the SDMB and she will be missed.