Look, it's Jeff!

Hopefully this will bring back some fond memories for those that knew him, and provide a small glimpse of who he was for those that didn't.

=======================================

In the weeds next to a footpath on Detroit’s Belle Isle sits an engraved boulder that reads:

JEFF COLBY
1964 ----- 2007
COMMITTED TO THE GREATNESS OF DETROIT
DETROITYES.COM/ITSJEFF

I walked by the boulder often on my regular route south along the Detroit River near the Coast Guard station without seeing the inscription. If I paid it any attention at all, I saw only the smooth unlettered side of the rock.

Then one day, while walking in the opposite direction, I caught a glimpse of the engraved words peeking out from behind a mass of weeds. After pulling the grass away to get a better look, I typed “detroityes.com/itsjeff” into my phone and proceeded down a rabbit hole.

https://www.detroityes.com/mb/blob:h...2-1b742b011961https://www.detroityes.com/mb/blob:h...1-d4f5374dcb34“ItsJeff” is the screen name Jeff used on the detroityes.com discussion forum. When he died unexpectedly in 2007, forum members chipped in for the boulder and a bench facing Windsor, Canada, as well as a paver on the Detroit RiverWalk. Since then, the bench has disappeared, and the area became a nature preserve.

A few things about Jeff:

· For 20 years he was a Law Clerk for the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan.
· He visited inmates in prison to help them fill out paperwork for their upcoming cases even though it was not in his official job description.
· He was an unofficial DetroitYES! social director and organized outings at various Detroit locations for the DetroitYes! Forum Social Club [[aka, the FSC), which included any “forumer” who wanted to show up.
· https://www.detroityes.com/mb/blob:h...d-e4100e60d9a9He organized FSC picnics at Belle Isle.
· He convinced a bunch of forumers to playfully hijack threads and type, “ItsJeff is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I’ve ever known in my life.”
· He would invite new forumers to lunch and pick up the tab.
· He went out of his way to make new people welcome at FSC functions, and made a point to introduce them to forumers.
· He loved photoshopping himself into random pictures.
· In 2006, he declared war on Livonia in a hilarious thread that was re-enacted in 2008 on WDET, Detroit’s Public Radio station.
· He had just retired from law clerking and started a new career in the insurance business shortly before he died.

https://www.detroityes.com/mb/blob:h...d-9ba6bcc6186ahttps://www.detroityes.com/mb/blob:h...7-f321b0260a70
I didn’t know Jeff.
I wish I had.

Well, thank you for that post, Bubblehead!

I didn't know ItsJeff that well but he was certainly loved by all.

What I most admired about him {and was a bit envious as well} was his ability to deescalate confrontation with humor. That takes a true diplomat and is sorely needed in our divisive world today. I doubt he even recognized how skilled he was at doing that. It just seemed to come naturally to him.

And thanks for that photo too. It brings it all together.

If anyone wants to search for Itsjeff's posts, they can be found at DetroitYES HOME » DetroitYES Archives Index.

The bench was beneath a large willow tree that was blown down in a storm, unfortunately taking the bench with it.

Pertinent Threads:
Jeff's Passing:
https://www.atdetroit.net/forum/mess...914/94176.html
Are we at war with Livonia?
https://www.atdetroit.net/forum/mess...tml?1141787304

Thanks, Bubblehead, for letting us know the boulder is still present on Belle Isle. Thought about it on a recent visit to the island, but didn't have time to walk and check it out.

The boulder--and bench that Lowell mentioned--was one of several tributes to ItsJeff by the DetroitYES community.

He is still dearly missed by many!

How did the war with Livonia end, or did it? Truce?

The war was over when I moved to Michigan in 2015, but I was told by a reliable source that Livonia surrendered unconditionally, and was subsequently granted its independence in late 2007 when they agreed to [[1) demolish the Laurel Park Mall and [[2) never develop a downtown area.

I could be misinformed...

Lol.

If Slovenia was able to do it, why not Livonia? Glad it’s all ok now.

Sometime in 2008, WDET created a radio dramatization of "Are We at War with Livonia". Unfortunately the link that led to it now redirects to their home page.

Then there's that other Livonian War.

i've said the before, elsewhere, but we need to organize a meetup.

Stromberg2

What? No mention of Manrooter? :-)