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KutuluMike (known to some as Michael Edenfield) passed away.

profile for KutuluMike at Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange, Q&A for science fiction and fantasy enthusiasts

I don't have a lot of details. A few people noticed he had been MIA from things for over a month. We reached out and learned he had been in the hospital for 45 days with something called CMV virus, which he was at high risk for because of the lung transplant he received last year. The last we officially heard from him was he was recovering and expecting to leave the hospital. He was 43 years old.

A facebook post by one of Mike's relatives, transcribed below

I want to thank everyone for their prayers. Please continue to keep my family in your thoughts and prayers as we go through this. My brother Michael passed away last night.

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    R.I.P. Mike :'(
    – Ankit Sharma
    Commented Aug 5, 2020 at 21:32
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    The only thing we really know for sure is Mike willed all his rep over to me just before he passed away.
    – Jack B Nimble
    Commented Jan 8, 2021 at 22:35
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    He was a good dude. Terrible news.
    – Wad Cheber
    Commented Jan 23, 2021 at 15:11
  • @JackBNimble Account merging because of a will? Actually this could work, if the staff would allow it...
    – Anonymous
    Commented Jun 23, 2021 at 0:59

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Too soon. Far, far too soon. 43 years old? Shit.

For those who aren't familiar with Mike on-site (he became less active in recent years): as well as his Q&A activity getting him to almost 100,000 rep (at the time of writing), he was also one of the most active users in back-end site upkeep stuff, thankless tasks such as ...

Let his achievements live on in perpetuity. R.I.P.

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I cannot say that I knew Mike well, but I knew him as he was here on the site and in chat.

All I can say is that his presence will be sorely missed, and I would like to extend this Stack's warm wishes to his family and other loved ones.

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I got to know Mike best in a slack group he had set up a few years ago for some site members to chat together. I'm sure some of the older users knew him a lot better than me, but all the interactions I can remember having with him were positive. He will be missed.

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    Kills me everytime I see that.
    – Möoz
    Commented Aug 10, 2020 at 5:12
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Mike was one of the reasons why I enjoyed posting on this site so much! In my early days (2013), seeing his posts that were so well-written and insightful inspired me to post better and actually put effort into this site.

We even had a small rivalry to see who could post faster/better as we were both interested in similar works.

His hard work and dedication payed off as you can see the difference in our Rep. But it's the thankless hard work that he did that I'm most thankful for him doing.

He was interested in not only providing good content for this community, but also looking after its progress and guiding it to become what it is today! I have no idea how he didn't become moderator, but it's good to see that he continued to look after this community in whatever capacity he could!

Rest In Piece Mike. You fought and battled but now you can rest!

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    "it's the thankless hard work that he did that I'm most thankful for him doing" Well said. Mike was an example and an inspiration.
    – Shog9
    Commented Aug 13, 2020 at 14:35
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    @Shog9 Good of you to stop by, I'm sure you know that we recognise your appreciation for him :)
    – Möoz
    Commented Aug 13, 2020 at 23:03
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Mike was a great supporter of the blog. He contributed a lot of articles. The ones I think that stand out are:

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In reference to his namesake:

That is not dead which can eternal lie,

And with strange aeons even death may die.

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I am at loss of words. Although we weren't at the same page on this site (see this and this), I can feel the loss. No story is complete without enemies. I hope I contributed even a little to make his story (a part of which will always live on this site and in us) complete.

Most have been forgotten. Most deserve to be forgotten. The heroes will always be remembered. The best. The best and the worst. And a few who were a bit of both.

- George R.R. Martin, A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire, #4)

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