TSandM -- Lynne Flaherty

[sffrenchman]

Such a tragedy. Her posts shaped in many ways my approach to diving and the choices I have made in my diving career. I know she loved diving in my neck of the woods and I was hoping to meet her one day, diving at Point Lobos. Sincere condolences to you Peter.

 

[Linedog]

I am still at a loss for words.

 

[The Surly Mermaid]

Haven't been on SB in ages. Have been shaken up and broken hearted over her passing all day. I cannot tell you how much I admired and respected Lynn, even though I only knew her from SB. She was a class act, a good teacher, and did not pull any punches; and she did it all with kindness, intelligence, and grace. What an amazing light we have lost. My thoughts and prayers are with you Peter.

 

[annasea]

Peter, my heartfelt condolences to you, your family, and all those whose lives were touched by Lynne.

 

[Seymour Fisch]

I'm one of the chorus of people here, crying over the passing of someone I've never met... except that we all did meet her, just a little bit: even diluted to mere text on a computer screen, her intellect, expertise, warmth, kindness, generosity, humor, these all shone through and touched so many lives. Every single dive, I use the little tips and tricks and pearls of wisdom she shared, and I say a silent little thank you to her.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

This is probably going to be a very weird post and too self-centered to be appreciated by many, but for some reason, I always thought I would get an opportunity to dive with Lynne sometime in my local waters. I didn’t know when, but somehow it felt inevitable. We talked (pm’ed) about it once several years ago, nothing since. We had never met.

I spent some time daydreaming about what dive I would pick – which one would she like best? I think she said she really didn’t like wrecks too much and I knew she wouldn’t go past 100 ft, so that presented some limitations. Would I bring a speargun and shoot a fish or would that be unwelcome?

Some days I would be doing dives, (many days really) and in the back of my mind, the thought of her doing this particular dive would creep into my mind. The strangeness of these thoughts was not lost upon me, particularly since I don’t recall having similar thoughts with respect to anyone else and there never were even tentative plans for it to actually occur.

I never finalized in my mind what was the best site and of course it would have been dependent on conditions on “that day”, but I always wondered what it would be like with her over-the-top attention to detail. I could pretty much envision her going over my rather eclectic assemblage of gear and also demanding a detailed dive plan with a host of contingencies and how my son would fit into the dive. I even gave thought to what extra details would be necessary for her personalized dive briefing.

It all sounds so weird now, and sad.

I think my appreciation for all that she gave to the dive community was the motivation for me to try to share some of the joy I get from my local dives. I guess I recognized that this would be the only means I could offer to personally pay her back for all the patience and wisdom she openly and humbly shared.

My eyes about bugged out of my head when I first read the announcement last night. As someone else said on this thread, my personal sense of sadness is surprising strong, particularly toward someone I never met.

My sincere condolences to Peter, family and friends.

 

[Belce]

I came across TSandM shortly after I started diving back in 2008. I found this forum and soon found her posts on most things about diving, and sorry to the others that post here, she made a lot of sense. I went down the rabbit hole in part because of her. When I found out she was in my area, made sure to meet her. I am fortunate for that.

Lynne understood that knowledge, friendship and truth is the only gold worth anything, and made more by sharing.

 

[LowDrag]

Peter...my wife and I are both very distraught over this sad event and are heart broken over the news of the search being called off. I remember the first time my wife and I ever spoke with Lynne. We were at the dive show in Tacoma in 2013 looking at dry suits and undergarments. Lynne came over to us to talk to about the Whites undergarment, telling us about how comfortable they were. Something inside me said, "ask her if she is TSandM", so I did. She had quite the surprised look on her face. It was kind of funny and when I told her who I was on the board we all got a good chuckle out of the chance meeting. Lynne was always nice to me whenever I would PM her or post in the open forum. The next year you came down here for a gas management seminar for our club and you sat down with Danee and I to chat afterwards which we enjoyed very much. We are both very sad tonight and our deepest sympathies go out to you at this time of sorrow. I hope to run into you again at Cove 2 as we have in the past. I hope to shake your hand and get another chance to talk with you once again. I wish there was something I could do to help ease your pain and suffering.

Take care,
Dave and Danee

 

[Macan]

Like countless others, I've never met Lynne, only read her posts as I search old threads to learn how to become a better diver and Instructor.

Each time I read one of her post, I pause, and say to myself, "what a gifted writer, knowledgeable Diver and generous person this poster is." To new or experienced divers, she openly shared her experiences and learnings in a humble, knowledgeable and unselfish manner.

She will continue to be with all of us, and those after us, through her writings.

She has given so much to so many.

 

[PeterNBiddle]

Words are failing me as well. Always wanted to, but I'll never get to dive with her now.




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