Wherefore art thou Eric J. Hedlund?

So, every now and again I like to check up on my "missing" friends -- you know the people you lost contact with but you wish you hadn't. I guess it's sort of nostalgic. There aren't that many that I've lost touch with that I wish I could reconnect with, but there are a few. One, Eric, was just an amazing person. I really liked him for all sorts of reasons. I met him when he was around 14 or so and I was in my early 20s (here's a picture).

He ended up, last I checked, as the editor of the newspaper in Taos, New Mexico. Every now and then I'd go check over there, read some of his articles, and feel a little more connected. I sent an email to him a few months ago and it bounced. Then I found a notice saying that he'd left the paper because he decided to leave Taos entirely. So now I've lost contact. I feel surprisingly saddened by this -- despite the fact I haven't spoken to him in many, many years. He hasn't updated his blog in over a year.

A few years ago one of his friends e-mailed me as a result of this blog, so I thought I'd post this here in the remote hope it happens again. Eric's not the only one I think about, but he's one of very few. I miss Dee, but sadly, she's dead. There were some other people too, but I've managed to reconnect with them via e-mail and/or IM and such (Randy, Carey, for instance). I don't count the people I've tried to reconnect with but have met with reluctance or resistance (Josh, Rob H).