Comforting Thoughts

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I was on the verge of crying my eyes out at Irit's memorial service this weekend. I'm sure Lauren felt my hand's vise-like grip on hers as we sat in the back row and listened to four very moving tributes. Irit was one of the few people in the industry I could talk to about personal things, and after the memorial service I found myself thinking about the time she counseled me when my mother had cancer. The sheer number of media industry people who came to say goodbye to Irit was a testament to her ability to personally connect with EVERYONE around her. She was just that type of person.

Irit Spitalnik

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I'm very sad to report that Irit Spitalnik has passed away. I've hesitated to post anything here or on OT regarding Irit's passing, but many of you have e-mailed me privately or left comments in the earlier thread, so I figured I should post something. I feel so incredibly sad for Michael and Maya that I'm nearly speechless and I don't think I can get through the day here at the agency unless I can get my mind off it somehow.

I have a promise from two friends who are very close to Michael that they will keep me posted about funeral arrangements, etc. When I receive word, I will immediately post information here.

Irit was an amazing person. She had this terrific way of putting people at ease immediately and making you feel as if you could tell her anything. We first met in a business context, but became fast friends. I remember one time we were sitting in the back courtyard at our old Greenwich Street office and I was all depressed about having difficulty meeting someone. She sat there for a half hour and talked with me. When we were done, I felt so much better and so much more optimistic about things. She was just that kind of person who could cheer you up - a great listener with infectious enthusiasm and a lovely smile.

Share some of your favorite Irit stories in comments, if you feel so inclined.

UPDATE - Chris Theodoros posted details of the services in the May thread. I wanted everybody to see them:

The service for Irit is this Sunday January 15th It is at: PLAZA JEWISH COMMUNITY CHAPEL # 630 Amsterdam Ave at the corner of 91st Street Service is at 12 Noon

SECOND UPDATE - Nick Nyhan sent along the details for Shiva and for the Irit Spitalnik fund. Here they are:

Shiva: 401 East 74th Street, # 5F Sun. Mon, Tues

Fund: "Irit Spitalnik Fund" c/o Dynamic Logic 30 Irving Place, fl 4 New York, NY 10003

Trackback Spammers Must Die

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No Trackback spams ever see the light of day on my site. They're held up by MT-Moderate. But as soon as I delete them from the moderation queue, whatever script the spammers are using "notices" that they've been deleted and replaces them with 10 new Trackback spams. Neither of us is accomplishing our goal here. And no one is backing down. I'm not letting the spams through to the site, but evidently the Trackback spammers have decided that even if they have no prayer of getting their spam through, that doesn't allow me to escape harrassment.

What sucks about this is that spammers are completely ruining the ability of blogs to have conversations that span across multiple blogs and are easily tracked to the beginning of the thread. I think this is very damaging to interaction and it really bothers me.

Somebody needs to figure out a solution to all this.