Andy Stephenson Memorial Photo Album Published.

[benburch]

http://www.AndyThanksYou.com/

Not too late to add pictures or to identify yourself for the captions, though. (Though I have limited text available in the captions, please realize.)

[dogday]

1. Absolutely Wonderful Ben

That was such a tribute to Andy... Thanks so much for all the effort and love you have put into this site....

[im10ashus]

2. Ben, you are awesome.

Truly a great album. Many thanks!

[EFerrari]

3. kick

:grouphug:

[NoSheep]

4. Thanks for the photos. I am sorry I was unable to meet him.

My heart goes out to all of you who did.:hug:

[myrna minx]

5. What a wonderful tribune.

I can't stop crying. :cry: :cry:

[acmejack]

6. Thanx, Ben

You do so much, you provide tremendous inspiration, as did Andy working through a lot of pain.

[Up2Late]

7. Did someone really write that about the Puppy? I hope that was...

...just a Joke. Was it?

[benburch]

12. Yes. A parody.

Of the things the freepers and pretend liberals were saying about Andy's illness.

[Imalittleteapot]

8. Thanks for sharing ben.

:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

[KT2000]

9. That is great

thanks for doing this.

[Catherine Vincent]

10. I really hate that I never got a chance to meet dear Andy.

I still can't believe he's not with us anymore. :-(

[supernova]

11. Really lovely work, Ben

thanks for all the photos.

[understandinglife]

13. Thank you Ben.

Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us - Halt terror on America; begin by demanding Voter-Verified Paper Ballots.

[mzmolly]

14. What a wonderful tribute.

Ben that is lovely.

[Plaid Adder]

15. Scamdy.com is still up:

http://www.scamdy.com/

I suppose it would be too much to expect them to take it down now that the man is dead.

Not a good week for humanity,

The Plaid Adder

[benburch]

21. Let them keep it up.

It shows us all what sort of evil we are fighting. And it is giving certain people evidence to use in court and in published articles.

[dogday]

32. Hit them where it hurts, their wallets....

[Hell Hath No Fury]

36. I dropped by to see what this...

was all about.

I left feeling totally disgusted and with a strong urge to clean myself with a harsh, abrasive soap. :scared:

My god what a (tiny) nest of vipers. Worthless, meanspirited people with ugly souls.

I was somewhat mollified to see a complete lack of activity on the site. I guess there weren't all that many ready to stoop so low...

[Stephanie]

54. they're still not convinced

they want more proof. no joke.

[proud patriot]

66. Thanks for the heads up

:hug:

[meganmonkey]

16. Lovely!

In the Columbus meetup pix - the woman in the short-sleeved orangy/peach colored shirt is me!

I can identify others in those pix if you want, but I am hesitant to in case people have privacy issues...

[sinkingfeeling]

17. Thanks.

[checks-n-balances]

18. Thank you, Ben

for this and for staying so closely connected to Andy all this time. I think the photos will help us grieve and yet be grateful for who he was and what he did.

I was wondering if anyone is also relaying our condolences to Termite and other closest relatives and friends of Andy? They have certainly been through it, too, and I know that our hearts go out to them.

:grouphug:

[eleny]

19. "All mankind is one volume"

"All mankind is one volume. When one man dies, one chapter is torn out of the book and translated into a better language. And every chapter must be so translated. God employs several translators. Some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice. But God's hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again for that library where every book shall lie open to another."
~John Donne

From "Devotions upon Emergent Occasions" (1623)

[housewolf]

20. You are an angel, Ben

You do so much for others, I trust that you are or will be abundantly rewarded for giving so much to others


O8) O8) O8) O8) O8)

[Lone_Star_Dem]

22. Ben, you're a dear person.

My new rule is to make sure and tell everyone how appreciated they are, life is too fleeting. You're very appreciated, Ben.

[Straight Shooter]

23. Those ICU pics are some of the saddest photos I've ever seen.

I look at them and think, "There was hope then."

I'm so sorry he's gone. And that pic of nostamj and Andy ... :cry:

[leftchick]

42. I know...

Two of the best... nostamj and Andy

:cry:

[Midlodemocrat]

24. Beautiful, Ben, just beautiful.

:hug:

[SmokingJacket]

25. Thank you. nt

[Rick Myers]

26. Wonderful!!!

Andy knows he is loved here...

Rest in Peace, Andy! We will soldier on with you in our hearts!!!

[Just Me]

27. Touching.

Truly touching. :hug:

[Lars39]

28. benburch

I read a bio of Andy's this morning.
Is there any way you could include it on your site?
I thought it was from there, but now I can't seem to find it.

[benburch]

30. If you can find it, please let me know where.

Thanks!

[Lars39]

31. I'll look for it.

I think it was in the big thread.

[Lars39]

37. Sorry, can't find it; it read like a resume.

Detailing his background, his fluency in three languages, etc.

[helderheid]

41. I think I posted it. It was from his site when he was running for SOS

http://www.andystephenson.com/?q=node/view/10

About Andy
Andy Stephenson grew up in El Paso, Texas. He lost his father at age 13, and he was raised by a single mother through his teenage years. He studied business administration at the University of Texas, working
his way through school. He moved from Texas to Seattle in 1991, where he has lived ever since. For seven years, he worked at the phone company, and he was a member of the Communication Workers of America, Local 7800. He wrote the training program for his department, and he served as the interim field support manager for six months. Until recently, he owned a restaurant franchise, but he sold it to campaign full-time. He is fluent in English, German and Spanish.

Andy Stephenson has served as a PCO, registered numerous voters and volunteered on Al Gore's presidential campaign, but he is not a practiced politician. He is a small-business owner turned activist.
He has volunteered with Lambert House (a center for GBLT youth) and participated in every peace march against the Iraq War. He grew interested in voting problems in 2002, after suspicious results in a county near where he grew up; three different Republican candidates each won by exactly 18,181 votes in Comal County, Texas. Over the last 18 months, he has also worked hand-in-hand with national voting
rights activist Bev Harris; together, they have exposed numerous problems with electronic voting machines.

This winter, Andy Stephenson worked with state House and Senate members to get voting legislation sponsored, only to have it killed in committee. His bill mandated paper ballots and robust auditing in
time for the important elections this fall. The alternate bill, proposed by Sam Reed (Stephenson's Republican rival and the incumbent) and championed by Laura Ruderman (Stephenson's Democratic rival),
protected corporate rights over voter rights and made no changes prior to November. Stephenson worked to kill this harmful bill and to resurrect his bill. Neither bill passed before the legislature ended
its session this spring. Stephenson is currently suing Washington State, because four counties use voting software that was illegally certified by the incumbent; he wants to ensure that the votes cast for
Secretary of State and all the other races this fall are counted correctly.

Andy Stephenson is a voting rights activist, not a corporate rights activist. The right to vote is the one thing that separates a democracy from a dictatorship. Andy Stephenson has worked hard to expose the voting machine industry's conflicts of interest. The Secretary of State's primary responsibility is administering
elections, though they also oversee public records (which Stephenson wants to digitize and put on the internet) and corporate charters (a bureaucracy Stephenson dealt with as a small business owner). Stephenson has scrutinized the election laws of Washington and is acutely aware of the problems we face here. Having studied elections anomalies nation-wide, Andy Stephenson can ensure that they never
occur in his state, and he can make Washington State a national model for clean, fair, verifiable elections.

[helderheid]

43. kicking for Ben to see my reply

[benburch]

49. Got it.

I'm too worn to edit the site today, though. (almost zero sleep) but I shall get that on there tomorrow AM.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

29. Thanks for the album!

I have always loved that shot of Andy in the kitchen sink as a boy.
Seeing the shot of him and Jeff was startling -- to see two of our DUers together who have now left us is a bit unsettling. But I know they are somewhere shootin' the shit and plotting karmic payback on BushCo.

[Kingshakabobo]

33. Thanks Benburch. Thank you.

[grace0418]

34. Beautiful Ben, thank you.

Why couldn't some horrible person like Karl Rove been the one to go?

[OzarkDem]

35. Great job!

We'll visit this site often in the days to come and it will be a source of comfort to many.

[paula777]

38. Very nice. Thanks Ben. I know you must be really hurting today

I am choking on tears and I have never even met Andy. You and LaLa and a few others stuck up for him so beautifully when some f'rs were accusing him of not being sick. Thank you for that. I knew those people were lying based on your posts and also Lala's post - I'm sure your support really helped Andy a lot.

[Chicago Democrat]

39. RIP Andy!

We love yoU!

[helderheid]

40. ben, there are SO many Andy threads here - is it possible to set up

a guestbook on his site where we all can sign in one spot for his friends and family?

Thank you for everything you've done and continue to do.

[benburch]

50. My resevation on a guestbook is...

that the freepers would find it and fill it with their hate. I want to control the message at least to the extent of excluding them.

[NC Beach Girl]

44. Thanks

It's a lovely tribute and thank you for posting it.

[bpilgrim]

45. Thank you, Ben

for everything :loveya:

peace

[wovenpaint]

46. Nice job with the website

Thanks for putting this together.

Everything feels so surreal lately-I just can't believe he's gone now. But I do believe that he lives on- in all the lives he's touched.

Godspeed, Andy.

[mogster]

47. That is a nice site, Ben

Thank you for doing this :-)

[helderheid]

48. kick

[DELUSIONAL]

51. Thanks for this website

The photo I find most interesting is the one of Jeff Matson (nostamj) & Andy together.

nostamj -- for those of you who are new is the person who put together a DU cartoon page -- typical and political cartoons.

Ironic that both of these fine human beings were struck down by an infection.

[shireen]

52. Thank you Ben

I didn't know Andy personally (except for a few email & chatroom exchanges) but admired him tremendously.

My condolences to you, Andy's family and friends.

Many of us here at DU who never knew Andy personally have also suffered a loss -- we will never have the opportunity to get to know this extraordinary man.

[bigwillq]

53. What a great site.

Thanks for the link.

RIP ANDY.

[barb162]

55. That is a wonderful job you are doing. As an aside, who will

take the little doggie

[benburch]

63. I believe that Ballot will remain with Termite, Andy's partner.

(Otherwise, *I* want him!) ;)

[barb162]

65. Good, and Oh, how sweet of you!

Continuity and familiarity will be good for this poor little dog.

[Window]

56. Thank you

[goodboy]

57. thank you ben. (nt)

[greatauntoftriplets]

58. Wait until you see the ones I am sending you....

They are great.

On edit: Thanks for doing this.

[Nothing Without Hope]

59. Thank you for this, Ben. So many of us never met him, so these

images are doubly precious.

[Nothing Without Hope]

60. A fine memorial article on Andy at Seattle Weekly cites your

home page for the AndyThanksYou site - so people who follow it will find this photo album too.

Here's the article by George Howland, Jr, which he published as an epilog to his earlier article on the vicious smear campaign.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4052955
Thread title: Seattle Weekly memorial article on Andy Stephenson: "A Fight To the End"

[VOX]

61. Beautiful, ben, beautiful...

Thanks so much for putting this together.

[tibbir]

62. This is great - and so touching.

[Massacure]

64. May this thread by kicked farther than the world record for a football.

[Dee625]

67. The photo albumn is a great idea - thanks Ben. n/t

[Lady President]

68. Wonderful Gesture

Thank you so much for this wonderful tribute. I have to admit, I was especially pleased to see the pictures from the Columbus DU gathering. (I'm in the jean jacket.) I can't believe that was only two months ago... Andy was so full of joy-- the life of the party.

[In_The_Wind]

69. Thank you for putting this album together ~ benburch.

I was one of the people who enjoyed having supper with Andy at the DU meet-up in Columbus. I'm in the picture with Andy, Meganmonkey and others.

Meeting Andy is one memory I will cherish forever. His love for his fellow man was limitless. We truly lost a wonderful person with Andy's passing

Joani