January 25, 2000

Posted January 25, 2000

A Message to my friends

I feel that I know many of you well enough to send this personal message out. As a matter of fact, I do know many of you well enough.

I've avoided this for as long as I can, but I'm afraid it's time to say goodbye. I've tried just about every treatment there is to try, so the focus has shifted to keeping as comfortable as possible. I'm getting weaker, finally too weak to devote the necessary energy to JoniMitchell.com.

I won't try to describe the effect Joni's music and life have had on me -- I'd just get tangled up in my own words. (I think many of you understand already.) I can definitely say that creating JoniMitchell.com has contributed greatly to my well-being in recent years as I've fought this disease.

I've always tried to keep us Joni fans together by developing content that enhances our collective experience and appreciation of a person I firmly believe to be one of the great artists of our time. I've tried always to separate honest fact from chatter. I feel lucky and honored to have lived during a time when it was possible for a "regular guy" like me to feel that he'd helped create a community to promote an artist. Joni has given us so much, and I wanted to do what I could to give something back to her. I hope my efforts have met with at least some success.

My heartfelt thanks go out to the long list of very special people who helped contribute to JoniMitchell.com's success. Your feedback and friendship have often served as a well of inspiration.

I also want to thank everyone who has reached out to me with messages of encouragement and support over the course of my illness. The generosity of your kind words has helped to light up many a dark moment, and restored my confidence in the human spirit.

Finally, thank you, Joni. I love you.

My longtime friend Jim, who many of you know or have corresponded with, has often assisted me with design, text and image editing over the years. He knows me and what I want for the site well enough to continue in the spirit I feel for JoniMitchell.com (he's a huge Joni fan, needless to say). Jim will be running the site for the forseeable future, assisted by a few other friends I've worked with over the years. He's spending most of his time taking care of me right now, but you'll hear from him soon.

It's been my great joy and privilege to bring JoniMitchell.com to the Internet community. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the love you've sent my way. I wish you music, happiness and fulfillment in your lives, and I hope we meet again!

All My Love,
Wally