A heartfelt goodbye from Outposts

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This is the second-most difficult post I have written, and comes a little more than a year after I wrote the most painful one, on the death of my father.

Outposts is a goner. A committee has decided to eliminate this column.

I’ll likely transition to the Fabulous Forum, but want to be honest -- while some of the topics I write about will fit well (pro surfing and the Iditarod come to mind), sadly, many don’t seem as if they would be at home there.

While Fab Forum is a great blog, it’s mostly about pro and college sports and athletes, where my focus here is on the everyday man and woman and their doings in the outdoor recreation and lifestyle sports world -- hunting, fishing, boating, hiking, etc. I enjoyed writing about their achievements and records and about the things that might be of interest to outdoor recreationists not only in Southern California but nationally and globally.

Before I sign off here I have a few folks I’d like to thank:

The Times copy editors, for making certain my syntax and punctuation were correct and for masterfully tightening headlines;

Steve Carson, who would send me his weekly Irvine Lake fishing report, and Carrie Wilson, of the California Department of Fish and Game, whose Q&A column was one of my weekly favorites to post;

Fish and Game department staffers nationwide, for taking the time to speak with me, send me images and otherwise assist in outdoor-related news to populate Outposts;

J.R. Absher from the Outdoor Pressroom and Jeff Dudas’ UnderwaterTimes -- two excellent go-to sources for outdoor and marine-related news;

Pete Thomas, my friend and ex-colleague, to whom I am extremely grateful for encouraging me to start working on Outposts with him;

and Scott Bassin, my husband, who embraced my commitment to this column and, rather than just tolerating it, takes pride in the work I’ve done and the effort I’ve put into it.

Thank you for reading, and hopefully we’ll meet again somewhere down the road. Until then, happy trails to you.

-- Kelly Burgess