I received a pm from a member here notifying me of the loss of one our most well-known and beloved members.

As many are aware, John aka jswgpb also known to many as The Lion, had been battling liver cancer, and sadly he has now passed away. His obituary has some brief details of his life beyond Caedes. There is a guestbook here where messages can be left.

His wonderful fractal artwork and lively warmth and humor combined to touch many people here and he will be missed.

He was such a good friend to everyone and always had nice things to say. As well as a fantastic artist. He will be missed dearly. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family. The Caedes Community has lost another beloved member.

Wished it had not taken so long to find out about this but I knew it was coming. I just went through all 141 pages of his gallery. I had saved many of his fractals but I see I had missed a lot of some I liked so it was a pleasure going through them. I started out on this site not liking nor appreciating fractals and it was John that changed my attitude on that. Boy oh boy, I'll bet he could produce some doozies now. Rest in peace, John.

Oh no...such sad news...and I was just recently thinking of him and hoping he'd pop in...he'll truly be missed, not just for his wonderful art but as such a super guy with a huge heart...RIP John, and thank you for all the beautiful images you gave us...it was a real pleasure knowing you.

Here is a direct link to sign the guestbook:

Guest Book

John S. Warmbier
(July 17, 1956 - November 8, 2011)


I left these words;

"John will be missed dearly.

In a time when it is so easy to hide behind a pc monitor and remain anonymous, John was an exception.

To our online art community at www.caedes.net he was and is a prominent and beloved member. He gave freely of his time to help others in their own art pursuits with words of encouragement and friendly advice.


And he shared his wonderful work and creativity in his own galleries, found here:

http://www.caedes.net/Zephir.cgi?lib=Profile&username=jswgpb


He will always have a special place in our hearts and on our site.


Our condolences to John's family, friends and all whom he touched.

R.I.P, John.. we will not forget you.

-purmusic"

Thanks for posting those words on behalf of the caedes community, Les, as many may not hear of this news for awhile in light of the holidays.

You will also find some comments on the Bulletin Board as well where the news was first announced. May God bless you, John Warmbier.

I'm so sorry to read the news of John's passing! Oh my.... he will be so missed. In looking at some of the pages in his gallery just now I realized that his work, his beautiful fractals, have directly influenced my photographic eye in the abstract images I've been venturing into. Thank you, John. And I bet you're seeing some really incredible fractals wherever you are now!
mary

R.I.P. ...The Lion Man.....

I've known John from his first day here.. we shared art and emails.. he was a lovely genuine guy.. I will miss him dearly..

RIP.. Fluffy.. xx

So now there's 2 threads for John. That should tell you something Mr.Lion! You were dearly loved and always will be. You'll always be in my prayers and thoughts.

We've lost an all-around good guy, a major talent, and truly, a class act. Bye, John. Truly sorry to see you go.

John was a caring and giving person that will be missed.
A kind and gentle lion of a man. RIP John.

Awhile back I had sent him an email, to check up on him. He did respond to me simply saying that in his words: I'm not doing too good, but hanging in there, sweetie, thank you. I'm saddened that those were his last words to me. The lion sleeps-rest in peace John.

....I am so sad to hear the news about John - a very sad loss - one of the kindest people I was fortunate to meet online at Caedes. I will miss you Lion King!

I, too, am so sad to hear about John's passing. He never had an unkind word for any of us.

I'm very sad to hear of John's passing. He was a great easy going guy! Always ready with a joke and he was a good friend of mine as well. I still remember introducing him to Apophysis and he was very good with it. He was a great artist and a true friend to everybody that knew him, rest in peace Bud!!

:o(...............my eyes are leaking, my heart hurts.

He was always there with advise and kind words.
My eyes are leaking too.... Miss you my Lion friend.

I'm guessing/hoping it's already being set up, but just in case I'll ask anyway. Can we please have a front page notice, as was done so nicely for Verena? Not everyone checks out the forums, and word of mouth might not go far enough.

Thanks for any attention to this request.

I have messaged Geri about a front page news story, but it is a busy holiday time, so it may be a few days before he sees it.

I think it is already allowable for anyone to submit news to the front page.

Yes, I believe you're right. I was more or less asking for something "official" from site "management", which Cat's answer addressed perfectly well for me.

Thanks, Cat.

Can't one of the mods put it on the front page..

Geri is the only person who can approve/"publish" front page items, no matter who submits them.

This sad event is testament to how many and varied is the membership here, because I've been a member since the spring of 2006 and in all that time never made John's acquaintance, never been a recipient of his apparent good nature, work, or assistance, at least none that I recall. For those of you who did know him well and, of course, his family, I offer my condolences.

-Nik

such sad news, mr lion was an inspiration to all of us, and gave me many a giggle. he will be sadly missed! :-(

Sad news. He had been posting a lot of nice work on DA lately, this really shocks me, had no idea. RIP John!

It was lovely to see the beautiful messages left from members of Caedes.net on Johns Obituary page.. he will be greatly missed

I turned on the tv last night and The Wizard of Oz was on.. maybe it was a sign that he is thinking of us all.. (I couldn't watch it.. RIP Fluffy)

RIP, John ... you will be dearly missed.

You can tell I've not been on the site for a while, darn it. I knew John was ailing, but hadn't officially heard of his passing. I've known him from his kind comments and fun humor since I can remember. I came on to Caedes in 2004.

John, we will really miss you, my dear friend. Rest in peace.