Chances are, you've never heard of Dana Atchley. He wasn't a homepager or a weblogger or a new media superstar. But he was using technology to tell stories since you were probably still in diapers. I was, for sure. I first saw Dana perform his groundbreaking work called Next Exit in 1998 at the Digital Storytelling Festival. He coined the term "digital storytelling," founded the festival, and was capturing imaginations with what these ones and zeroes could do, when combined with heart and soul. I got to see the performance again in Sweden last year, where I took the photo above. I always felt guilty about my photography habit – like maybe I was removing myself from the experience by photographing it – until I met Dana, who had been shooting his life with every technology that came along for fifty years, and then spinning it all into wild tales of adventure for audiences around the world. I got to talk to Dana a bit about the web and what it can do. He told me he was impressed with {fray}, but I felt so young, so ... pedestrian, when I saw Dana enrapture a live audience. That night in Sweden, I hoped to God I could pack in half of the living Dana had in my time on this planet. Dana died today. He'd been fighting a battle with cancer for a long time. It was a battle we all hoped so hard he would win, and secretly feared that he wouldn't. I really didn't know the man that well, but he was an inspiration to me. And though I'll miss him like a member of my own family, I know his voice will live on. – dmp [12.13.00]