David:
>I am not offering the above as an excuse; there is no excuse for
>leaving the list in the way that I did, for letting others down,
>and I'm sure I will never accept my resigning from the list, and
>from society in other aspects in the manner that occurred at this
>point in my life.

David, it is good to have you back!  You have no reason to excuse your
sudden departure as running a list can be a very daunting and time
consuming task.  It is only natural that your priorities in times of
financial trouble were with your business.

>In particular, I am very grateful to the efforts of Michael Clingman for
>getting the list back operational, and for Thomas Billings, for his
>extensive and generous support he provided, which dated back to the very incarnation
>of the list.

Yes, we indeed owe them a lot for their pioneering efforts.  And,
naturally, you as well for making all this possible in the first place. :-)

>When I look at the list and where it has come to today, I can
>see that the raw community has benefited greatly from its
>existence, even through the  rough waters with  zealotry
>and spitefulness that have occurred at times. We have a lot

I would like to think that the list has made a little difference - it sure
has had a  positive impact on my life - but you need not look far to
realize that the raw food community is in many ways still living in the
Middle Ages.

>I am very glad that the name of the list changed to what it is today,
>open to any intellectual discussion on all aspects of raw eating.
>I have been been enlightened in more ways than I could hope to
>count.

I am glad we have another satisfied customer. :-) We sure have had our
share of the "raw is law" crowd for whom challenging old paradigms with
stimulating dialog is about as exciting as eating a piece of raw meat is to
a dedicated vegan. :-)

>At this point, I have resolved myself to try to get beyond my
>previous difficulties in life, and attempt once again to make
>whatever humble contributions I can from my eternal pool of
>indebtness to the raw community. It is certainly late in the game
>and well overdue, but I feel that I now must and am prepared to make
>the effort if the raw community can find a way to accept it.

I am glad you are over your financial worries and look forward to further
contributions from you in the future.

Again, welcome back!

Best, Peter
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