I am very sorry to have to pass on the news that Mark’s brother Rod shared here:
It is with regret that I have to let folks know that my brother, Mark, lost a lengthy, difficult battle with cancer on February 9, 2017. I appreciate seeing the value that his work / obsession / joy brought to so many. Thank you for supporting him over all the years.
I don’t know anything about Mark’s life except that he devoted a substantial part of it to producing one of the best sites on the internet, wood s lot, and updating it daily for as long as he could. As I wrote earlier: “He somehow finds the time and energy to put together a collection of images, links, and quotes that make my mind and soul feel a little better stocked.” He was a constant inspiration to me in my own efforts, and I will miss him more than I can say. I hope he and my old friend Mike are sharing thoughts, stories, and outrage somewhere on the other side.
Thank you for sharing this. I knew something was amiss.
wood s lot was my favorite site, bar none.
Mark was one of the souls for whom the non-commercial Net was made: ceaselessly exploring, selflessly sharing, deeply pondering the questions that art and philosophy make available, and that they pose especially pointedly online. We’re all poorer today. Vale, Mark Woods, Professor of Gluation and Scissorology, University of Blogaria.
My condolences to the family, wood s lot will always be an inspiration, really the best of the internet in creating a mood, an aesthetic and a wonderful place to be. He touched many people around the world, best regards from Belgium.
I’m saddened by this news. Mark was an exceptional person. He was one of the best teachers I ever had. Wood s lot was a gift to the English speaking world.
http://www.blairandson.com/book-of-memories/2841655/Woods-R-Mark/obituary.php
Robin Mark Woods
April 27, 1949 – February 9, 2017
Thanks very much for that link.
I’m so sorry to hear this sad news.
Very sad news. Wood’s Lot was a beautiful site.
Terrible news. Always my first port of call on the net.
I have to say, I’m surprised (and saddened) that this seems to have made so little of a splash on the internet; I just assumed everybody was as fond of wood s lot as we were, but I’ve only found one other blog mentioning the loss.
Long Tail.
Some time ago one or two bloggers received word that Mark’s Mac was about to pack up and they cast around for a replacement. It wasn’t a matter of helping out a fellow blogger – the thought that the Web might lose wood s lot after a couple of years was untenable.
Frank or AKMA probably remember the story better than I – unable as I was from my far corner of the word to help equip Mark with a new computer. I’ll always be extremely grateful to those who, without second thought, set out to find one for him.
Mark continued to inform, educate and enlighten us for many years.
Either way, and if my recollection has any basis in fact (hence my appeal to the soundness of Frank and AKMA’s greater and more reliable minds), that gesture stayed with me. It was a token of gratitude to a fellow blogger who consistently, and with a gentle quietude, gave to us that which we might not have had.
If Mark posted a link, you could be sure that, beyond the …(more), lay a rich world well worth exploring.
Today, that small action takes full meaning. Mark, wherever you are beyond the …(more) at the end of your last entry, I look forward to learning whatever it is that you have to share. Through you and those who, all those years ago, pitched in to fix what now might seem a mundane problem, wood s lot became a part of my life.
It is a life enriched by yours.
Thanks for sharing that story; it enriches my life just to hear it.
Thanks for posting this; I selfishly couldn’t let go until I knew something.
He made the internet a better place for all of us.
I wish his “July 13, 2016” page could find a permanent life, an internet tombstone, perhaps with a link to the obituary…
I’ve been puzzled and concerned since he stopped posting. This is very sad news. wood s lot was a beautiful labor of fiercely intelligent love. Deepest condolences to his family.
I have missed wood s lot … didn’t dare to further investigate … needed to hope … your passage from this world of actuality into the world of our collective memory touches my heart with sadness and longing … peace be with you …
This was the closest we could get to putting it on his page, without direct access.
web.ncf.ca/ek867
Thanks everyone for your kind words. (Sister-in-law)
Thanks for that, Dianna. Here‘s a direct link.
wood s lot has been my browser home page for over a decade. It was home base for me on the internet. Mark was a great teacher. Peace brother.
Quite possibly he’s with the goats.
So very, very sad to hear this (belatedly, from Facebook). I can’t say much more in the first feeling of shock at the news– I had been worried at his recent silence. I loved woods lot; it was one of the first spaces on the net that opened my eyes to the potential of sharing art and words online– how we could join hands over the world, and the shock of recognition that runs the whole circle round. His site was deeply human and made being human a little easier: I often went there if I needed a reminder of our better natures or to refuel the soul.
I hope the site stays up. There are treasures there.
Well said, and I share your hope. Thanks for commenting.
I checked the site almost daily and missed it right away. One of the best.
Also, my home page for years. Although I didn’t know where he’d gone, I felt his absence. Deeply grateful for all he pressed upward for me to see, consider and remember. My heart goes out to his family and friends.
I also followed Wood S Lot and never understood how someone could share links to such interesting areas of wisdom, without once ever using the word ‘I’. He removed his ‘I’ and his ego from the scene, and watching his blog gave me that feeling of standing in nature itself, perhaps in one of the quiet rural places in the photos he sometimes shared of the place where he lived. Maybe Mark took his humility from this place itself. I am glad to see the page still alive, but none of the links work, and the archive doesn’t open for me. If anyone can say if it is still possible to read through these archives, I would be very grateful. RIP Mark, and thank you for making me want to lose my ‘I’.
Mark’s blog is back up and has a more complete archive. It was down for a few months I think. It is a joy to visit random dates in the archive.
http://web.ncf.ca/ek867/wood_s_lot.html
Thanks to whoever is responsible for maintaining the website.
If there was a place to donate I would.
I join you in your thanks.