Despite the fact that I don’t necessarily think that there is much to add to Freddie’s post regarding Culture 11, I feel moved to write at least a little something about a site I came to hold in such high regard.
I first learned of Culture 11 when fellow OG Chris Dierkes wrote me to say that the pre-eminently confusing James Poulos has approached him about doing some writing for an up and coming, “outside the beltway” conservative site on politics, culture, and all things Americana (and beyond). Chris and I shared what is commonly referred to as an “indie-blogger dork out moment” over the excitement and possibilities — I didn’t jump around shrieking, but I think Chris might have (ha ha!).
A little while later I wandered over to check out Chris’ “new digs” and was immediately struck by the originality of what C11′s creators had envisioned. While I’m not sure that the social networking elements of the site ever truly took off, it was clear that C11 was destined to be much more than just an online magazine or a series of blogs. C11 was set up to be a community, and a community dealing with politics and culture of all things. I was in heaven.
Like Freddie, E.D., Mark, and Chris (I think), C11 was the first place to give me a chance to actually publish thoughts I had only ever written on my own site. C11 was a site that brought new and fresh perspectives into the fold and featured them side by side with well published and respected writers and there was, frankly, no where else on the web that one might find such an amazing opportunity. The community that formed around this hooking into of possibilities was an impressive cadre all its own. The editors/bloggers of C11 proved themselves not just talented communicators, but, more often than not, interesting people who brought their own unqiue quirks and ticks to the table as an invitation to be real in all of this talk. They brought out the honest, if not at times intemperate, reactions of their readers and encouraged that sincerity to always be the first instinct of the site, as opposed to the sheltered fears we hid away.
In many ways, The League of Ordinary Gentlemen owes its inception to C11. All of the writers on this site in one fashion or another came into each other’s orbit by first entering the orbit of this exciting new site we’d all heard of and a mini-community of our own formed out of that trajectory. It is the dedication to real and considered dialogue, searching exploration, and enlivening debate that drew us all to C11 and those qualities very much infuse this site with which we’re all so excited.
C11 was setting up to be a premier site, I don’t hesitate to say that, and I, among many others, am better for the efforts that everyone there put forward. So thanks C11, we owe you, and as that Poulos character suggests — let us ride again in another life.
Tim Kowal 
BlaiseP 
Nob Akimoto 
Jaybird 
Will Truman 
Russell Saunders
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Ahem. That should read “like E.D., Freddie, and Mark.” Other than that, I have no idea how I can add my own tribute to supplement yours and Freddie’s. Well said.
Amended.
Thanks. Of course, that was officially the most petty piece of nitpicking in my life. ;)
Bah, I’ll let you get away with it b/c you called me a “magnificent bastard” this morning. You could have published elsewhere first, but I think I remember you commenting on the CPSIA piece as your first, so I don’t really have an excuse, except to say that it’s tired, I’m late, and I had just gotten back from an ad-hoc community patrol with other members of my apartment building because we thought we might have heard someone getting attacked. What an odd feeling, all of a sudden banding together with people I live feet from day-in day-out, but hardly ever see, let alone say two words to.
Community, it is a strange, bewildering, yet beautiful thing.
well said. nice (temporary) eulogy. for the record, I didn’t jump–it was far worse. I had to rub my eyes repeatedly and get my wife to read the screen to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating ‘cuz i never thought in a bajillion years somebody like poulos would like my stuff.
Any word on what happens next for those guys?
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