It has come to our belated attention that Mathaba reader and on-line human rights and freedom activist Marc Parent passed away unexpectedly in 2011. Image: Marc`s Twitter avatar
The below, is from this source, for which we are very grateful to the writer. Marc's last post was on Twitter was on the awful fateful day that the rats declared the start of their conspiracy to take Libya from the people and hand it to the devil. We reproduce this here as duplication back up, readers should ideally view the source article via the above link. Some of the links in the article below are now broken. We are grateful to have learned something about one of the most active defender of human rights and freedoms on social media, and we offer our heartfelt condolences to his family and friends as we continue to miss his presence.
One year ago, the voice of Marc parent suddenly went silent on the internet. His online presence was extremely influential. Marc was one of those hyperactive activists whose broadcasting was busy, intense, and focused on real change and reform to try to make the world a better place. There was no better content aggregator and very few bigger influencers in the social media world. Illness suddenly struck, and Marc Parent passed away on March 28th, 2011 at the age of 59.
I never met Marc personally. I don’t even know what he looks like, and could not find a picture of him after an exhaustive search online. That doesn’t matter. Connecting with someone online is just as profound and powerful of an experience as knowing them in person.
Twitter
Marc was probably most famous online for his Twitter account at @mparent77772. Over 82,000 people followed him there and he was important enough to be listed 2653 times. His presence was huge. He logged 119,219 tweets, most of which were links to a variety of subjects revolving around freedom, reform, politics, human rights, and world news.
His location was listed as “In front of my screen” reflecting the massive amounts of time he dedicated to online activism. His profile read, “Blogger – Interwebber on politics, finance, news, media, society, government, the internets – CRIMES AND CORRUPTION OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER“. Marc’s final online communication came on February 17th with this tweet: “Colin Powell demands answers over false Iraq intel http://bit.ly/fB5YwZ”
YouTube
Marc had a very popular YouTube channel under the name CrimesandCorruption. Opened on the Winter Solstice of 2008, it had 392 subscribers, over 500 subscriptions, and had almost 200,000 channel views. Marc never uploaded a video, and only listed to as favorites: “Philip Zimbado: A Study of Evil” about the the horrors of Abu Ghraib anda MoxNews recording of how Dick Cheney is a war criminal.
Digg
Digg was also a focal point for Marc’s efforts. Although he was a member since the end of April 2007, I didn’t notice a massive uptake of activism there until later in 2008. 667 people followed him there, and he dugg up over 12,000 while submitting (sharing) a massive tome of 6288 articles.
Blip
Marc loved being a DJ on Blip.fm. He played an eclectic mix of music that was heavy on the atmospheric electronica with sounds from BlueTech and Tosca.
Google Reader
You can get a feel for what inspired Marc’s activism on his reader list.
Blogging
The first reference to a blog by Marc that I could find was on blogspot starting in 2006. That soon sprouted into a second blogspot blog and then a third one. Others can also be found on his profile page. This appears to have moved to LiveJournal in 2008 with another blogging venture at PrePosterous.
Facebook
Marc’s posted on his Facebook wall on February 9th, stating, “back again for who knows how long. i answer all personal facebook (only email) messages. comments msssages i answer only in a public way. i like news tips and such. so please feel free to write. miss you guys, terribly. best, marc“.
Two days later, Marc shared the tragic news that his life was coming to an end: “been sicker than a hound dog for several weeks. not convinced yet as a few tests, doctor interviews remain, but te latest medical guess by a doc who who gave me decent service for a few years is I have 2-3 months left to annoy critics online. looks like I’m headed to a better place sooner than expected. I’m at peace with that. thing is I have a lot of loose ends to tie up, and need to preserve enough wherewithal to accomplish them and still have some fun.”
The responses from his many online friends are heart felt. His last posting was on February 17th, and then it was silent.
Online Funeral Announcement: PARENT, Marc Joseph Claude March 16, 1952 – March 28, 2011 On March 28, 2011, Marc Parent of Edmonton peacefully passed away at the age of 59 years. He is survived by his children, Ryan, Jason and Megan; mother Colette Parent-Savaria (Leo-Paul); two sisters, Suzanne (Len) Buchniak and Lorraine (James) Hook as well as one brother, Pierre, and nephews and nieces. Marc was predeceased by his father, Albert and his nephew John. A Funeral Mass will be held at 10:30 a.m., April 2, 2011 at St. Joachim, 9928 – 110 Street, Edmonton, AB.
You can view the obituary guestbook here, which contains voices from around the world.
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looks like I’m headed to a better place sooner than expected. I’m at peace with that. thing is I have a lot of loose ends to tie up, and need to preserve enough wherewithal to accomplish them and still have some fun.”
