> To understand Mr. Roberts' hostility toward Nick Schade is quite easy. He
> operates a company (Open Water Kayaks, L.L.C.
> http://www.robertscpa.com/kayaks/index.html ) that, loosely speaking,
> competes with Mr. Schade's Guillemot Kayaks. I say "loosely",
> because I fail to see how a $20,000 "Jewelry quality" kayak even
> sells, which doens't make it much of a competition.

> Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going out in the garage to work on my boat.
> I've nicknamed her "Fratricide". Also, if anybody has any good
> ideas on what I can do with $20,000 in spare change, I'm open to
> suggestions - because I KNOW one place it ISN'T going to!!

This is unbelievable. Mr. Roberts reminds me of another zealot that was endlessly harrassing and attacking people in this same passive/aggressive manner on rec.bicycles,off-road for over a year. Finally, tired of dealing with him, the entire group went through the painfull and slow process of moderating the group. Now the filters and killfiles do the job for us!

What is even more amazing is Nick's patience and composure with this guy. Nick, you're a saint. I would have booted the guy off the BBS for his biased review of your book alone. Mr. Roberts should go back to Mr Roberts' Neighborhood, or maybe even kindergarden, where he just might pick up some basic clues for getting along with the rest of the world...

To everyone who spoke up on this, I think our point has been made. At the risk of adding one more voice to the din, our best defense against Mr. Roberts is to ignore him and leave his posts unread (or at least unanswered). Then like the little boy he is, he'll get bored and go play somewhere else.

La, la, la la, la, la....

Mark Woodhead