On our shabby wall over cracked, broken plaster, hangs a framed picture of Lulu, to whose memory this website is dedicated. It shows her sitting in her suburban Washington, DC office during the wee hours of a stormy morning. There, as she has done faithfully since this site was launched, she toils away on her tiny hamster-sized netbook computer.

Lulu (born 21 January 2008) was from the very start our hardworking proofreader and copy editor. For Lulu, no task ever came at a bad time; she never complained that the job was difficult or tiresome, and not once did she fail to tackle an editing job as soon as it was available to her. Her sharp eye caught typos and misspelled words. She fixed errors in punctuation and unraveled gibberish, sorting it all out and making it palatable to the literate masses.

Then in early September, Lulu's paws became sore and her body started to ache. But without complaint, she dived into her work with an enthusiasm that amazed all of us. Soon she developed a fever and had to take medication for an infected pouch. Though still eager to work, she found her health rapidly going downhill. But she didn't quit. Toward the end, she was unable to eat, yet she spent her last conscious days ignoring her illness and teaching her hand-picked apprentices - This One and That One - to take over her work.

Lulu died the evening of Wednesday, the 30th of September, after falling into a coma several hours before. She will be forever missed and loved. Lulu, thank you for all your hard work and your good-natured generosity. We love you!

Pestis