[Tweeters] Hal Opperman moves on

[Elaine Chuang via Tweeters]

This is an exceptional week for our listserve.  Hal Opperman's tribute yesterday to Dan Victor sketched out so much of who Dan was, his dedication and what he accomplished, and their long friendship.  We’ve been awarded a special peek into the history of getting birding going in these parts, and sharing it (would someone please tell us about the “Bird Box?”).  If Dan as the founder of Tweeters “… established the 'broad tent' ethos of the Tweeters list…,” please remember that for the better part of three decades, Hal has been right there too.  Together they wisely assembled and then tweaked the gears beneath the wheelhouse, as Hal calls it.  Please read or re-read Hal’s tribute to Dan Victor yesterday for the best thumbnail possible about where Tweeters came from and where it is.  

Well, the day has come: Hal has announced that he is stepping fully away from Tweeters.  He has turned in his Administrator's cap!  It has been my privilege to serve as “the Sorcerer’s Apprentice” and to appreciate how, upon the foundation that he and Dan constructed, Hal has consistently steered the listserve forward via clear communications with spare intervention.

Far superior to anything else that could be offered is the superb tribute written by Jane Hadley, upon Hal’s being awarded the Zella M. Schultz Award by the Washington Ornithological Society, in 2014.  https://wos.org/documents/wosnews/wosnews152.pdf

Congratulations and deepest thanks, Hal.  Here’s a standing ovation to you, with feathers and confetti!


  Elaine Chuang, for Tweeters
  Seattle
  elc at uw dot edu