With 2007 barrelling to a close, I find my mind drawn to the ongoing challenges of updating. It's something most news suppliers find challenging, and many use that challenge as little more than a footnote, at best.

But here we are with recent losses including Wayne Howard and Paul "Zeus" Grant and (on a different note) the ending of Tom Ryan's TUMBLEWEEDS, and I realize all over again just how many people in the industry I haven't managed to keep up with.

It was great to see Gary Friedrich appearing at some conventions in 2007. How many other well-known figures from years back have we lost touch with? These aren't necessarily Facebook-type folks; whom should we be seeking out these days, anyway?

Son Stephen got an entire book out on this sort of project years ago (TENACITY OF THE COCKROACH), but can't we start tracking down people in a less elaborate way?