Stephen Rees's blog

There is a tribute to blogger Merv Adey on the Georgia Straight web page. Merv blogged at BCVeritas and was very active on twitter where he contributed a lot to the hashtag #bcpoli. He also followed me there, which I found a great compliment.

But when I read Charlie Smith’s piece I was most taken with his final paragraphs.

Merv chose another path in life. But I have no doubt that had he been given the breaks that I received, he would have reached a much larger audience than he ever did on his blog. Not that this ever bothered him.

I only tell this story as a reminder to mainstream media journalists out there to respect bloggers like Merv, Laila Yuile, and Norm Farrell, even when they’re scorching your work.

Just because someone has a comfy position in the press gallery or hosts a talk show or edits a newspaper or has a column doesn’t necessarily mean they’re more talented, have deeper insights, or they’re a better writer or superior researcher than a blogger like Merv.

It might only mean that they got lucky when they were young because someone offered them a job when these types of jobs were far more available.

Merv often demonstrated a great deal of humility in his writing. Let that stand as an example to the rest of us.