Years ago, probably decades by now, around some government scandal, someone said something like, “You only get one chance to show your integrity — your entire life.” That vision of oneness — across time, across the countless distinctions that slice and dice our lives, across the glittering facets that always almost make us who we are — has haunted me ever since, in the best ways. I’ve only ever known a few people who seemed to embody that ideal, and we just lost one of them: Jonathan Sterne. We knew each other for 30+ years across a dozen contexts, not one of them in person. There was a time when that meant you weren’t really friends because electronics; but with Jonathan — and I think there are multitudes who feel this way — that distinction was just one more illusion, real and not. Part of me wants to fall back on some trite phrase like I’ll miss him terribly, but that feels off; the ways I’ll miss him flow from him — wonderfully, generously, thoughtfully, attentively, hopefully, rigorously, subtly, caringly. To Jonathan: super bon voyage. And to Carrie Rentschler who was his better half and he hers, all the love and respect that he, with her, inspired in so many others.
Here are Jonathan’s personal sites Sterneworks and Superbon, as well as his professional site at McGill.
EDIT: Biella Coleman posted this picture with a memorial that included the following:
The picture below is from one of his Boston hospitalization stints. The sunset over the Charles was generous in its stunning and sublime colors framing Jonathan in a pensive pose. While Jonathan was much more than his illness, he was also open about his experiences in ways that were inspiring and moving.
Other notable memorials as they roll in: