Today, December 28th –or yesterday, depending on your geographical location– our own Greg Taylor, Grand Kahuna here at the Daily Grail, turned 50 years young. He celebrated his birthday in the company of his loving wife and his amazing children.
Greg began this website in the 1990’s –yeah, we’re talking Fresh Prince of Bel-Air level of vintage here, boys and girls– and during these three decades in which he has steered the helm of this little independent website devoted to grounded open-mindedness, avoiding the cliffs of uber=skepticism, the whirlpools or fanaticism, and the sharks of corporativism (eat your heart out, Myspace!) he has managed to maintain a community of devoted followers, while attaining the respect of his peers and many distinguished celebrities in the alternative history, parapsychology, near-death and the paranormal fields; including Jacques Vallee and Graham Hancock.
But of course, he’s also managed to collect his fair share of critics and trolls. Take for example James “The Amazing” Randi, who once called him a ‘grubby’ –because apparently that’s the best thing a McArthur ‘genius’ recipient can come up with. The silly nickname somehow stuck with me, and gave me the perfect flash of inspiration when Greg’s wife Tonita contacted me a few weeks ago, to request birthday messages and well wishes she was gathering among his friends and colleagues as a surprise to him.
So, this is what I came up with, to celebrate the life of the author of Don’t Worry: There (Probably) is an Afterlife.
Seems the card got just the kind of reaction I was expecting, because Tonita and her kids decided to have it printed and framed for him:
So Feliz Cumpleaños, Skipper, and thank you for letting me join the ride as you get ready for the next half a century around the inner solar system 🙂