6 ms·

The Tragic Story of Vernon and Oswald (2016)

132 points by akamaozu 5y ago

ExcavateGrandMa 5y ago
feeding the world and then asking for charity... That's sad...
drewlesueur 5y ago
Ironically, when I tried to revisit this post I accidentally clicked a different Hacker News link, ending up on https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/story-one-whale-who-tried-bridge-linguistic-divide-between-animals-humans-180951437/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/story-one-whal... I noticed they use the Oswald font on that site.
isomorph 5y ago
I clicked on the YouCaring link but it took me to a 404 page that said it had been absorbed by GoFundMe. When I searched for “Vernon Adams” on GoFundMe I couldn’t find anything. Does anyone have the link? Has anyone successfully donated? EDIT: I see the link is http://sansoxygen.com/ http://sansoxygen.com/
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
sinuhe69 5y ago
Can they not ask Google to put a short note and the funding link on his fonts so people who is looking for fonts can know about and support his family? I think a lot more people should know about this tragic story.
- one2three4 5y ago
  Who's they? And more interestingly when trying to contact google with above information I bumped to wall. How does one contact google? There's no contact-us link unless you're a member of press. Edit: TBH I'm a bit mad at google and all the rest of internet behemoths for this. The magnitude and breadth of his contribution should have drawn their focus and support to his family long ago. It is unacceptable that they (the family) should rely on the kindness of random strangers to make ends meet.
Arathorn 5y ago
We used Nunito Sans on Riot.im for many years, and had the same experience of tracking down the author only to discover Vernon's tragedy. The font lives on, though - https://github.com/googlefonts/nunito https://github.com/googlefonts/nunito for instance has sprouted a full Cyrillic version since. http://sansoxygen.com/ http://sansoxygen.com/ is the way to donate to support Vernon's family now (the youcaring.com link seems to be dead).
- one2three4 5y ago
  I don't understand. When trying to make a donation paypal lands me on a page where I need to link a credit card. Is that necessary?
frutiger 5y ago
Mods, can you please spend (2016) to the title?
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
ternaryoperator 5y ago
>It seems he didn’t have life insurance, either. Peeps, if you have children, get some damn life insurance! Not doing so can turn out to be the single worst parenting decision of your life.
- cbsks 5y ago
  Seriously. If you have kids, don’t already have a good life insurance policy, and are your family’s main income provider, contact a few brokers and get quotes now! Make sure your family won’t be hit with a double whammy of you dying and no longer being financially stable.
- hellbannedguy 5y ago
  life insurance if you can afford it, and an estate plan. That goes for both sexes. Without an Trust, your estate will go through probate. I believe the county charges 1 percent, and it can take up to a year. (A living Revocable Trust is not that difficult. Get it notarized. What I found confusing is funding the Trust. I need to do more research, but their is a form that needs to be filled out so your property taxes don't skyrocket. In CA it's the will doesn't need a notary's signature.)
- ed25519FUUU 5y ago
  After life insurance, put your most valuable assets (especially your home) in a living trust. And most importantly take care of yourself and tell your children you love them every day. Rest in peace, Vernon.
Igelau 5y ago
He also designed Amatic SC, which is practically everywhere.
aphroz 5y ago
Medium is blocked in my country, is there any mirror available to read this somewhere else without using a VPN?
- xNeil 5y ago
  I hope this link helps, although the picture has become much, much smaller. https://outline.com/DZ9VmT https://outline.com/DZ9VmT
  - aphroz 5y ago
    Yes. it works, thanks!
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
livinginfear 5y ago
I've donated to this cause before. His family deserves as much, given the large impact of his contributions. Rest in peace.
CryptoPunk 5y ago
Maybe Vernon Adams' family could sell a commemorative (i.e. not endowing any copyright) NFT of the Oswald font and auction it on Ethereum. The woman who featured in the disaster girl meme recently sold an NFT of the meme for 180 ETH, which is worth around $473,000 at current market prices: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/disaster-girl-makes-over-430-000-selling-the-nft-of-her-meme-11619540211 https://www.marketwatch.com/story/disaster-girl-makes-over-4...

132 points by akamaozu 5y ago

feeding the world and then asking for charity... That's sad...

Ironically, when I tried to revisit this post I accidentally clicked a different Hacker News link, ending up on https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/story-one-whale-who-tried-bridge-linguistic-divide-between-animals-humans-180951437/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/story-one-whal... I noticed they use the Oswald font on that site.

isomorph 5y ago

I clicked on the YouCaring link but it took me to a 404 page that said it had been absorbed by GoFundMe. When I searched for “Vernon Adams” on GoFundMe I couldn’t find anything. Does anyone have the link? Has anyone successfully donated? EDIT: I see the link is http://sansoxygen.com/ http://sansoxygen.com/

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

sinuhe69 5y ago

Can they not ask Google to put a short note and the funding link on his fonts so people who is looking for fonts can know about and support his family? I think a lot more people should know about this tragic story.

one2three4 5y ago
Who's they? And more interestingly when trying to contact google with above information I bumped to wall. How does one contact google? There's no contact-us link unless you're a member of press. Edit: TBH I'm a bit mad at google and all the rest of internet behemoths for this. The magnitude and breadth of his contribution should have drawn their focus and support to his family long ago. It is unacceptable that they (the family) should rely on the kindness of random strangers to make ends meet.

Arathorn 5y ago

We used Nunito Sans on Riot.im for many years, and had the same experience of tracking down the author only to discover Vernon's tragedy. The font lives on, though - https://github.com/googlefonts/nunito https://github.com/googlefonts/nunito for instance has sprouted a full Cyrillic version since. http://sansoxygen.com/ http://sansoxygen.com/ is the way to donate to support Vernon's family now (the youcaring.com link seems to be dead).

one2three4 5y ago
I don't understand. When trying to make a donation paypal lands me on a page where I need to link a credit card. Is that necessary?

frutiger 5y ago

Mods, can you please spend (2016) to the title?

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

ternaryoperator 5y ago

>It seems he didn’t have life insurance, either. Peeps, if you have children, get some damn life insurance! Not doing so can turn out to be the single worst parenting decision of your life.

cbsks 5y ago
Seriously. If you have kids, don’t already have a good life insurance policy, and are your family’s main income provider, contact a few brokers and get quotes now! Make sure your family won’t be hit with a double whammy of you dying and no longer being financially stable.
hellbannedguy 5y ago
life insurance if you can afford it, and an estate plan. That goes for both sexes. Without an Trust, your estate will go through probate. I believe the county charges 1 percent, and it can take up to a year. (A living Revocable Trust is not that difficult. Get it notarized. What I found confusing is funding the Trust. I need to do more research, but their is a form that needs to be filled out so your property taxes don't skyrocket. In CA it's the will doesn't need a notary's signature.)
ed25519FUUU 5y ago
After life insurance, put your most valuable assets (especially your home) in a living trust. And most importantly take care of yourself and tell your children you love them every day. Rest in peace, Vernon.

Igelau 5y ago

He also designed Amatic SC, which is practically everywhere.

aphroz 5y ago

Medium is blocked in my country, is there any mirror available to read this somewhere else without using a VPN?

xNeil 5y ago
I hope this link helps, although the picture has become much, much smaller. https://outline.com/DZ9VmT https://outline.com/DZ9VmT
- aphroz 5y ago
  Yes. it works, thanks!

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

livinginfear 5y ago

I've donated to this cause before. His family deserves as much, given the large impact of his contributions. Rest in peace.

CryptoPunk 5y ago

Maybe Vernon Adams' family could sell a commemorative (i.e. not endowing any copyright) NFT of the Oswald font and auction it on Ethereum. The woman who featured in the disaster girl meme recently sold an NFT of the meme for 180 ETH, which is worth around $473,000 at current market prices: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/disaster-girl-makes-over-430-000-selling-the-nft-of-her-meme-11619540211 https://www.marketwatch.com/story/disaster-girl-makes-over-4...