Friends and fellow members of MLHH,
It was with great sadness that we learned this morning that Bill Choisser passed away last night. Longtime members know Bill well. My first post at MLHH was way back in 1999 but Bill was with this site from its inception. Not only that, but he wrote most of the code for the site’s operations both for the board itself and the behind-the-scenes parts.
Bill was a remarkable engineer and extremely smart with computers. In fact, Bill was pretty much smart at everything. His writing was amazing, impeccable with perfect grammar and spelling, but it went well beyond that. He wrote in such a way to reach the heart and soul of men for whom having long hair is very important. His seminal treatise “On Being a Longhair” found in the Links section, remains the best guide for such men. It speaks to all men with this interest but it especially is geared to those of us with longhair identities. Such men simply do not feel whole without having long hair and as a born longhair himself, Bill could relate in a special way. This document has been translated into several languages.
Bill had his own battles before he finally could become his full self and grow out his hair. On a personal level, this meant so much to me as I was born into a high-control organization that hates longhairs. I suffered considerable angst as I wrestled with my longhair identity while also being so indoctrinated with other beliefs. Bill and I shared many an email as he helped me to see that God couldn’t possibly be so petty.
Bill served as one of the first moderators at the site before the moderators were even named. Bill then set up guidelines when the level of activity at MLHH warranted a group of named moderators. He continued to serve not only as a moderator but also the tech crew chief responsible for keeping MLHH running. He helped us deal with many technical issues that those of us without deep knowledge of computers and code would know nothing about.
It was an honor to finally meet Bill in December 2014. My family was visiting San Francisco and I was able to meet Bill, his partner Larry and Ken. We first met at a park and then walked to a restaurant for lunch. We kept on a walking tour of other parts of the city before finally stopping at his house. Bill was in pretty good health at that point having mostly recovered finally from a very serious health scare that first occurred in 2006. In the months after I saw him, Bill reported being able to walk long distances again. Unfortunately, this good health was not to stay his for very long.
I'd like to pass along my condolences to his partner Larry and the many friends of his who are mourning the loss of this great man.
The attached photo is from that day I met Bill in San Francisco.
Jason
