Eat All About It

After years of reading food blogs and forums, some names become as familiar and reliable as acquaintances and colleagues. I didn’t know “elswinger,” any more than I know the movie stars I read about in celebrity magazines, but I shared enough of his interest in Seattle restaurants to make a point of reading what he had to say on sites like eGullet. I never knew he had a blog of his own, or hardships that made him give the blog this subtitle: “LIFE IN SEATTLE FOR A 40-SOMETHING WHO IS LEARNING TO LIVE ON HIS OWN IN A WHEELCHAIR AFTER A YEAR AND A HALF IN A NURSING HOME.” And I certainly didn’t realize how much he struggled, or how ill he was. The Stranger’s blog, where he was a frequent commenter, reported over the weekend that he died on April 8.

There will be a memorial for elswinger — Larry Davenport — at 5 p.m. on Saturday (April 18) at the Six Arms. The Stranger’s thread has more than 150 comments on his death, and there’s a thread on MouthfulsFood here, and also one on eGullet, where he had a signature that made me laugh no matter how often I saw it: “”Homer, he’s out of control. He gave me a bad review. So my friend put a horse head on the bed. He ate the head and gave it a bad review! True Story.” Luigi, The Simpsons.”

elswinger’s blog, wrote another commenter on Mouthfuls, “should be required reading for anyone who doesn’t think our healthcare system is broken.” I feel like I know that commenter too, but I’m reminded now that I have no idea what’s happening in people’s lives beyond the comments they make.