A Tribute to a Prolific Times Commenter

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/21/reader-center/a-tribute-to-a-prolific-times-commenter.html

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A few years ago my brother, who knew I moderated reader comments for The New York Times, asked me about a specific commenter whose posts he found interesting: Richard Luettgen.

I was surprised. Mr. Luettgen commented for years on our articles and ultimately had nearly 30,000 of his posts published. Our community moderators and most active commenters long knew him for his prolific, articulate and often provocative writing, usually about politics.

But I hadn’t realized how far his reputation stretched. Even my brother in Arlington, Va., had seen his comments.

Recently, I noticed Mr. Luettgen, who had worked as a management consultant, had not been posting comments and wondered why. Some readers did, too. On Wednesday we got a sad answer, when on a Bret Stephens column about Elizabeth Warren, a reader posted what amounted to the comment version of an obituary for Mr. Luettgen, who died on Dec. 1 at age 63.

“Richard possessed a unique facility with language and was a tenacious supporter for conservative causes,” wrote “RD” in Montana. “He could both rankle and produce thought-provoking opinions that challenged liberal dogma.”

The comment announcing Mr. Luettgen’s death linked to a funeral home obituary notice, which said he enjoyed debating politics and world events and described him as “an avid commenter to The New York Times.” It also mentioned that he had been included in our 2015 list of top commenters.

The Times’s comment moderators are a tight-knit group, affectionately familiar with our frequent commenters and appreciative of those who contribute thoughtfully, like Mr. Luettgen. Commenters, too, have developed virtual relationships within our community.

“That’s tragic,” “rtj” of Massachusetts responded to the news of Mr. Luettgen’s death. “He had a sense of humor that’s rare around these parts.”

Another reader, “Nick,” wrote: “I almost never agreed with him, but appreciated his contribution to the discussion. He provided a lot of grist for the mill.”

Others have been offering their condolences to his family.

The ripples also spread through our department.

“One of the things I really respected about Richard,” said Bassey Etim, our Community Editor, “is that he would email me when we took down some rude replies to his comments and say, ‘Hey, what are you doing, put that back up.’ He was not afraid of mixing it up.”

Alessandro Alempijevic contributed research.

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