This is it, my final contribution to this wonderful sandbox in which I’ve been privileged to play for more years than I want to total up. And I wanted my swan song for Lois and Clark to be memorable.

There are too many unfinished stories on the boards, stories with wonderful premises and gripping plots and compelling characters – but which just come to a screeching halt halfway through the tale. And there are too many FOLCs who have just vanished into the worldwide ether without any public knowledge of how or why they’re no longer active. I didn’t want anyone to wonder what had happened to me, so please consider this my official retirement notice.

For the foreseeable future, this is it for me. My life is veering off into new and uncharted waters, largely due to my increasingly unstable health, and this wonderful and amazing fandom isn’t part of that future. I will always cherish the time I’ve spent here, the responses (both positive and negative) to the stories I’ve written, and the intelligent and perceptive people with whom I have corresponded, both publicly and privately. I’ll lurk back on occasion, but at this point I don’t anticipate becoming active again. Of course, no one can accurately foresee the future, least of all me.

I will miss this. A lot. But it’s time for me to make a change. Please understand and believe that I’m not departing because I’m angry about some imagined slight or that I’m disappointed in the people or the stories here – in fact, I firmly believe that this fandom has gathered some of the best writers in the world in one virtual place, whether anyone gets paid for putting these words in a row or not. I would put the overall quality of the stories on the archive up against those of any other fandom, irrespective of genre, and be confident that the gems in this fandom will end up shining like a laser show.

I applaud everyone’s commitment to quality storytelling and positive values, and I hope you all keep up the great work in the future. There will always be room for Lois and Clark and Superman in my heart. There just aren’t enough hours in the day for me to remain as active as I have been in the past.

Why am I leaving? In a nutshell, it’s me, it’s not you. And I really mean that.

Best wishes to everyone. Good night, and may the Lord guide and bless your steps.

Hello Terry,

I have not yet read your story; I always first peak at your initial post in your FDK thread to see whether the story is likely to be too depressing for my tastes. So this post is not feedback on your story, but rather on your goodbye.

I'll miss you and your insightful, thoughtful, comments, but I understand the reasons you gave for leaving. Thank you for telling us.

I wish you all the best. Please use your freed-up time to take good care of yourself. And if ever you feel like coming back, you will be most welcome here.

Joy,
Lynn

Oh, Terry, I'm going too miss you, too. The boards will lose a tremendous writer. I'm sad to see you leave. But I'll send you my best wishes along your way, wherever that may lead you. Be well

I just finished reading your story. What can I say? It makes me want to cry -- not so much for story Sam and company, but for all of us.

It is fitting that your final story here includes your muses. Your stories were the first ones I ever read which had such beings, and you made me fall in love with the concept. Thalia sends her best wishes to you and yours.

Thank you for being an active part of this fandom and for sharing gems such as this story with us.

Goodbye and God bless.

Take care,
Lynn

Terry, you're an excellent writer and this fandom will be diminished by losing you. I hope your health improves and you can someday come back to play with us. In the meantime, Godspeed. It's been an honor.

Terry,

I'm sad to hear this news. You're a wonderful writer with exciting ideas, and you always have insightful comments for others. I've enjoyed working with you on stories. Your contributions will be greatly missed. I'll keep your health needs in my prayers. Hope you're able to stop by in the future.

Joan

Add me to the chorus who's sad to hear this news. You were one of the first authors I found in the archives, and I've not only enjoyed your stories but learned from them. They're well-researched, absorbing, and beautifully written. Your comments are thought-provoking.

The Lord bless you and your family in this challenging time.

P.S. Thank you for sharing your wisdom and stories.

Terry,

I'm sorry to hear that you are leaving, just as i have made the decision to become a more active member of this community. For the past 5 years i have been silently lurking around here, one of my new years resolutions was to start commenting and sharing my stories.

Thank you for your great stories, they have inspired me and among others have help me through some dark and difficult times in my life.

Don't be a stranger, come visit have a laugh and a cry with a story and leave a comment.

Good bye for now, Good luck and safe journey.

Aww, Terry! I'm so sorry to see you go. What a heartbreaking fic to go out on. But so, so good. Take care of yourself, my friend, and hopefully one day you'll pop back in here again.

Terry.
As others have said, I will certainly miss you and your wonderful stories. I wish you all the best, in whatever you do.
Ray

Such a well-written, poignant goodbye! I’m sorry to see you going, but I do wish you well in whatever comes next for you!

Lynn, thank you for your kind words. And please thank Thalia for her good wishes. I'm sure my team can whisper sweet somethings in her ear soon. (I take no responsibility for any story ideas that collaboration might produce.)

Bakasi, thank you for the compliment and the good wishes. I've enjoyed working with you on your stories. I have no doubt that you and many others will pick up any slack I've left.

Mary, thank you so much. As with the others responding in this thread, I have a great deal of respect for your talents and your accomplishments. Godspeed to you also.

scifiJoan, thank you. I've enjoyed reading your work over the years, and I have enjoyed working with you also.

cuidadora, you learned from me? That's a wonderful compliment. To the extent that I've taught you, it's because I've stood on the shoulders of others who have come before me. There are so many good stories on the archive that I couldn't name them without leaving out a bunch of fabulous entries.

captainscout, thank you for your encouragement. I hope you post lots of gripping stories here.

DC, thank you. I'm sorry to go. But I'm glad you enjoyed (assuming that's the correct description) my finale. I'll swing by occasionally.

Ray, thanks for the kind words and the good wishes.

KSaraSara, thank you also. Your kindness touches me.

I want to thank everyone with whom I've exchanged comments, feedback, and editing suggestions. I've learned how to write effectively here, and you FoLCs are a major portion of the reason. Keep the cape hanging in the secret compartment behind the closet and make sure the fish are well fed. And please, someone put a small plastic tree in the planter beside Lois' desk. (I wish I'd thought to do it.)

Lots of good memories will go with me. Bye.

P.S. I'll be around to nominate and vote in the Kerths. I have some noms to submit soon.

I just discovered this one. Terry, I'm sad to hear you're leaving, but I wish you all bhe best for what Comes next. I'll miss your stories a lot though. I have great respect for you going into directions with some of your fics most other authors would avoid but had to be done. I'm alsu struck by the detailled characterizations you give to even the small side characters and the very thought-through comments you leave on stories. That's how Reviews Need to be to give the authors something to think about. I wouldn't be surprised though if you do a Perry and come back every-so-often (Retirement? don't know him:-)

Tkae care and have a good one!

Nick

Terry, thank you for sharing your awesomeness with us. I wish you the best of luck with your health and with everything you choose to do with your time.

Hi Terry! Catching up on fics
So, here’s the title from. /after reading the rest/ oh boy, that title is a reference to the suit coat, and combined with the first person, it substitutes to ‘My Goodbye’

Very dark and gray and depressing. Also, it’s raining today, so the weather’s dark and gray and depressing, too, right now. How did you do this?

I never read it but I’m pop-culture aware enough to make fun with it. So, is the secretary the girl from Fifty Shades? (btw, there’s an urban myth out there that Fifty Shades is Twilight fanfic with sex and Twilight is Superman fanfic with sex which makes Fifty Shades Superman fanfic with sex to the power of sex. )

Oh dear, this would work great as a end-times day fic for the Daily Planet with just Perry and Lois holding the fort after online media has first decimated print news and then also factual news until it reached the point where anything longer than 140 characters isn’t going to find an audience capable of enough reading comprehension to make sense of it.

Terry’s fics!

Awwww.../goes digging in the morgue/ “[url=http://www.lcfanfic.com/stories/2004/html/endofthe.html]The End of the Matter[url]” alternate ending to a Tank fic?

Oh great, now I’m flashing to Babylon 5’s Sleeping in Light and all the friends and compatriots that have moved on beyond the veil.

I don’t know if you described her hair before but given that Harley Quinn Season 3 is going to start this supper, I can’t help but flash to the HBO version

Oh, it’s not just the name. Has it been *that* long?

So, shrink session with Dr. Quinzell?



Well… say, did you ever do a Vatman?

/points at the nice little ho-ho-down from two weeks ago/

Awwwww

It was!

Terry, thanks for all your wonderful contributions to this fandom and all the fun we’ve had BR’ing! May you have the best years possible for you in your retirement!

Michael

Thanks for your kind words, BP. Looks like you were right - I dropped back in for a quick visit.

AmyPrime, thank you for thinking that I have any awesomeness in me at all. I just wrote what I wanted to read, and I'm glad you enjoyed it too.

Hi, Michael! Thanks so much for your comments.


Huh. I've never heard that before. Could be, I guess.


No, she's Effie Perrin from Dashiel Hammett's "The Maltese Falcon." Effie was Sam Spade's faithful secretary and sidekick. I'm standing in for Humphrey Bogart because, you know, he's dead. And I'm much taller than he was.


I find it ironic (and funny) that the comment above is more than 140 characters. I'm just a little off-center, I guess.


Yes. He was very kind to me and received my "suggested" rewrite with a good spirit.


Nope. Never got any urge to, either, but not because the premise is bad.


Yeah, Harley just had to get one last shot in.


He's not kidding about the BR stuff. We've had some deep philosophical discussions (and some rabbit-trail humor) working on some of my tales. If you can get Darth Michael to beta your story, you'll get quality responses every time.

Thanks again, y'all! /quietly slips out the back door/

Hi Terry!

I hadn't even noticed!

Aww thanks so much for the kind words

/watches as the old wood and glass door closes with a slowly/ He really should have oiled those hinges, though. They do creak quite a bit. Makes those silent entrances and exits far more difficult to pull off than he thinks

Michael

I missed this thread and saw The Last Goodbye on the Archive. I am so sorry for coming to the party late but I want to say thanks, regardless.

I want to express my gratitude for all the stories, some of the best stories, I've read in a long time. Some I enjoyed. Some I learned from. Some I learned about Terry from. I feel like a good friend has moved away.

Godspeed, Terry. I'll be praying for your health. If we meet someday I owe you the beverage of your choice in thanks.

David

Thank you for your kind words, David. When I wrote that I didn't plan to be active again, I really meant that I probably wouldn't post any more stories. I should have been more precise, because I find myself compelled to comment on occasion.

I really like Mountain Dew, although I rarely drink it now because it makes my doctors frown (lots of sugar and caffeine). For you, though, I'll gladly make an exception. In fact, I may hoist one to you some time this week. Thank you so much.