From Tom Lauder on the Passing of Gerd Weigel

I lost a friend today.

It is with great sadness that I tell you that Gerd Weigel lost his battle with cancer today.

Gerd was one of the good guys.

I hadn’t talked to him in a while; sent him the regular email jokes every now and then, and the too infrequent phone calls, but he was still my friend. And a very good one.

I’ve known Gerd since we were 6 years old.

He was someone I always looked up to and I thought that he was the smartest person in the world when I was growing up. If you wanted to know how or why something worked, you would ask Gerd and he’d tell you.

And he wasn’t showing off, he just knew and thought nothing of it. No conceit, no ego, just happy to answer your question and pass on the knowledge.

I give him credit for influencing me and making me want to know the answers to questions that people had. I wanted to be like Gerd. That is how he influenced me and probably why I am the way I am today.

I've cried a couple of times since hearing the news, but on Wednesday, I'll be making my way to Montreal to celebrate his life and remember all the good times we had growing up together, and I'll be laughing and smiling and so will Gerd.

I'll miss you, my friend.

Tommy Lauder