# Call for 1997 mods
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-for-1997-mods/1025465
**Category:** About This Message Board
**Created:** [December 6, 2025, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-for-1997-mods/1025465 "2025-12-06T17:20:23Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Nickrz2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nickrz2)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2025, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-for-1997-mods/1025465/1 "2025-12-06T17:20:23Z")
Hello all,
I’m a former GQ moderator from the late 1990s — known back then as **Nickrz**. I moderated General Questions for about a year during the early era of the SDMB.
I’m reaching out because I recently rediscovered a set of **photographs from the moderators’ summit at Starved Rock (Illinois)**, which included several mods and staff members — and yes, **Ed Zotti** was present.
Before I publish anything or write about that period, I want to handle this with care and respect. If you were there — **TubaDiva, Jill Gatwood, Lynn Bodoni, Ed Zotti** , or anyone else — I would appreciate hearing from you so I may:
1. Confirm your comfort level
2. Ask permission to use your image or nickname
3. Share the material privately if you’d like to see it first
My intention is to create a small **time-capsule account of the early internet** and the unique culture of the Straight Dope community during that formative period. Nothing sensational — just an honest historical record by someone who lived it.
If you’d prefer not to be included, please say so and I will, of course, respect that fully.
Warm regards,
**BRUCE (aka Nickrz)**
.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2025, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-for-1997-mods/1025465/2 "2025-12-06T17:25:38Z")
Both Lynn Bodoni and TubaDiva have passed though I don’t know about Jill Gatwood.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2025, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-for-1997-mods/1025465/3 "2025-12-06T17:25:45Z")
Welcome back, @Nickrz2 ! The first thing that you should know is that, unfortunately, @TubaDiva and @Lynn_Bodoni have both passed away.
To be clear, was this from when the Dope was still on AOL? The SDMB per se started in 1999 (and has gone through some major changes since then, of course, but there’s still some sort of continuity to then).
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### Author:  [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2025, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-for-1997-mods/1025465/4 "2025-12-06T17:31:43Z")
Right, check out this thread:
> [@In Memoriam](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-memoriam/489917/50):
>
> [Lynn Bodoni.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php) [As Ed Zotti put it:](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=716250)
I believe Jill Gatwood is still around, although her last post was back in February…assuming she is poster @JillGat.
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### Author:  [@Nickrz2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nickrz2)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2025, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-for-1997-mods/1025465/5 "2025-12-06T17:38:47Z")
I got the date wrong. This summit was in 1998.
The forums had all solidified and I think evry mod attended.
Thank you
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### Author:  [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2025, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-for-1997-mods/1025465/6 "2025-12-06T17:53:50Z")
> [@Nickrz2](#):
>
> The forums had all solidified…
Not quite…
Cafe Society, Politics & Elections, The Game Room, Thread Games, Marketplace, and The Quarantine Zone were all created after I joined in December 2000.
And General Questions (GQ) was renamed Factual Questions (FQ).
Finally, Cecil’s Columns and Staff Reports were combined.
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### Author:  [@Nickrz2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nickrz2)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2025, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-for-1997-mods/1025465/7 "2025-12-06T18:28:32Z")
You are all correct, thank you. Going back through old posts I was active from early 1999 to at least October of that year. The Summit was probably late 1999. Sorry - these threads have lain dormant since those heady days of SSDMB.
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### Author:  [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2025, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-for-1997-mods/1025465/8 "2025-12-06T18:31:17Z")
Hey, there’s a name I haven’t seen in a long time! Welcome back (even if you’re only passing through)!
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2025, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-for-1997-mods/1025465/9 "2025-12-06T18:42:01Z")
Is it worth at-ing @Ed_Zotti in this thread?
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### Author:  [@Hoops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoops)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2025, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-for-1997-mods/1025465/10 "2025-12-06T19:05:38Z")
Let’s page @engineer_comp_geek too
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### Author:  [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2025, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-for-1997-mods/1025465/11 "2025-12-06T19:23:51Z")
Oh no. We NEED to see those photos.
Post ‘em. Pleeeeeeeease!
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### Author:  [@Nickrz2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nickrz2)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2025, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-for-1997-mods/1025465/12 "2025-12-06T22:51:40Z")
I shall. I am hoping to obtain permission first and I must respect all Chicago reader and Straight Dope copyrights. I hope Ed or someone can give me permission to snippet a few threads from back in the day.
Grieving for my TubaDiva, did not know she had shuffled off to buffalo. or. as she once said about me “he went out back and the hogs ate him.” She was an awesome gal and a great writer and humanitarian. She mentored me and many others about the boards and the SMDB owes a great debt of gratitude to her. The great equalizer, enforcer, and cajoler of trolls, she stands head and shoulders above this board and all it means.
Not to shortchange the other mods, Jillgat, Lynn B. CK\_Dexter\_Haven, et all. And Ed. The man behind the mask. lol. Thank you for your welcome back oh ye great unwashed.
Bruce aka Nickrz