OTN Discussion Forums : Carl Backstrom

Jes

Posts: 5,398
Registered: 06/19/04

Carl Backstrom - A great loss
Posted: Oct 27, 2008 11:55 PM

carl , backstrom

I woke up to the news that Carl Backstrom was killed in a car accident (I'm not going to paste the link to the news article as it contains some distressing details that some people may not want to read).

At first I could not believe the news, however it has been 'confirmed' on various blogs and Twitter.

Carl obviously had a huge impact on the APEX tool and the community, however more than that he was a great guy. I've had the pleasure of meeting Carl many times and I consider him a friend.

A very very sad day, my thoughts and condolences are with his family at this difficult time.

John.

Blog: http://jes.blogs.shellprompt.net
Work: http://www.apex-evangelists.com
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Dimitri Gielis@AE

Posts: 1,844
Registered: 04/21/07

Re: Carl Backstrom - A great loss
Posted: Oct 28, 2008 12:00 AM

in response to: Jes

Reply

A lot of strength to your family, your daughter and your friends in these difficult times.
It was a pleasure to have known you. I'll miss you Carl!

Dimitri

http://dgielis.blogspot.com/
http://www.apex-evangelists.com/
http://www.apexblogs.info/

Paulo Vale

Posts: 331
Registered: 12/23/05

Re: Carl Backstrom - A great loss
Posted: Oct 28, 2008 12:19 AM

in response to: Jes

Reply

Hello,

Very hard to believe! Carl will be missed.
Wherever you are... a big hug to you, Carl.

--
Paulo Vale
http://apex-notes.blogspot.com

ATD

Posts: 8,839
Registered: 04/17/06

Re: Carl Backstrom - A great loss
Posted: Oct 28, 2008 12:34 AM

in response to: Jes

Reply

OMG, this is so sad.

Carl was one of those that helped me enormously when I first started using Apex and he will be sorely missed.

My condolences to his family and friends

Andy

Arie Geller

Posts: 3,259
Registered: 06/18/00

Re: Carl Backstrom - A great loss
Posted: Oct 28, 2008 2:02 AM

in response to: Jes

Reply

Hello,

When I first read John’s thread subject, I thought to myself “it’s impossible that Carl decided to leave the APEX team”. Never in my mind I would have thought about such a tragedy.

Carl was a true believer in APEX, and his commitment to it, and to the APEX community, was truly remarkable. When Denes was awarded “APEX developer of the year” I wrote that I believe that a good developer is also measured by his will to share his knowledge with others. Carl is a great example, also in this field. He always shared his vast knowledge with others, always willing to help.

My deepest condolences to Carl’s family and friends.

Arie.

Anthony Rayner

Posts: 263
Registered: 11/22/05

Re: Carl Backstrom - A great loss
Posted: Oct 28, 2008 2:18 AM

in response to: Arie Geller

Reply

This is so sad, he was so helpful, so enthusiastic and someone I really looked up to. Again more thoughts to his family, I just can't imagine what they're going through.

Anthony.

Alistair Laing

Posts: 406
Registered: 09/13/06

Re: Carl Backstrom - A great loss
Posted: Oct 28, 2008 2:35 AM

in response to: Jes

Reply

"John, Are you really sure?" - these were the first thoughts that came through my head then reality set in and I could not believe that such an impressionable person with so much knowledge, talent and a general good all rounder had passed away in such tragical way. Many a times he helped me with my coding and my js errors.

A truely GREAT loss for APEX and ORACLE communities

My thought are with his family and friends....

hfarrell

Posts: 407
Registered: 01/10/01

Re: Carl Backstrom - A great loss
Posted: Oct 28, 2008 3:14 AM

in response to: Jes

Reply

Much like the rest of you, I'm just totally stunned after hearing the tragic news about Carl this morning. I still can't get my head around it to be honest. Having worked with Carl for a few years now, I always found him very helpful, approachable, a wealth of knowledge in all things AJAX, and just generally a funny and friendly guy. I'm delighted we finally got to meet in person at OOW. My deepest condolences to Carl's daughter, family & friends at this very hard time. You'll be sorely missed Carl.

Hilary

S1M0N

Posts: 63
Registered: 08/24/06

Re: Carl Backstrom - A great loss
Posted: Oct 28, 2008 3:31 AM

in response to: Jes

Reply

I can't believe it .. i just read the news on various blogs.
I had the chance to meet him last OOW and also attended some nice, interesting and good sessions given by Carl... indeed a very great loss.

Also my deepest condolences go to his family and friends!

Simon

Zack.L

Posts: 202
Registered: 11/21/06

Re: Carl Backstrom - A great loss
Posted: Oct 28, 2008 3:42 AM

in response to: hfarrell

Reply

Bye Carl, RIP.....

Will be deeply missed....

My deepest condolences to Carl's family.

Zack

Daniel Borgstrom

Posts: 379
Registered: 01/07/03

Re: Carl Backstrom - A great loss
Posted: Oct 28, 2008 3:52 AM

in response to: Jes

Reply

Just wanted show my deepest condolences go to Carls family and friends!

A very sad story.

Daniel

Scott

Posts: 730
Registered: 09/03/05

Re: Carl Backstrom - A great loss
Posted: Oct 28, 2008 3:54 AM

in response to: Zack.L

Reply

Truly a great loss on so many levels. Carl somehow was never too busy to help someone out with APEX, despite the high demands of his job. You could always count on him to reply to an e-mail, IM or post on this Forum, even if there was a deadline looming. His attitude was always positive, second only to his incredible skill with web technologies.

My thoughts are with his friends and family during this difficult time.

Thanks,

– Scott –

http://spendolini.blogspot.com/
http://sumnertech.com/

bobrudolf

Posts: 271
Registered: 03/29/02

Re: Carl Backstrom - A great loss
Posted: Oct 28, 2008 4:12 AM

in response to: Scott

Reply

To Carl,
You filled the role of leader for the Apex Community for all these years and never lost your zest to improve both the product and all of us. We all owe you a lot Carl, and if we didn't have a chance to say it to your face, we'll all say it now. God speed. The Apex Brotherhood has lost one of our great ones.
Bob Rudolf

flavioc

Posts: 714
Registered: 01/16/00

Re: Carl Backstrom - A great loss
Posted: Oct 28, 2008 4:29 AM

in response to: Jes

Reply

i met Carl a month ago at OOW for the first time and on one day we had lunch together with Joel Kallman.
He was very enthusiastic about life and work and it's just too bad that he is no longer among us.

My deepest condolences to his family and the wonderful apex team.

Flavio

JdeJong

Posts: 103
Registered: 05/01/08

Re: Carl Backstrom - A great loss
Posted: Oct 28, 2008 4:50 AM

in response to: Jes

Reply

This is a great loss for the Apex community.

My deepest sympathy to his family, colleagues and friends.