Fallingwater Cellardoor & Eddie Escher in Second Life, 2004; Alayne Wartell & Chris Edwards at his 40th birthday, 2010
Once upon a time, two shy but talented 3D artists met as avatars in Second Life, fell in love with each others' virtual creativity, and then finally, fell in love with each other, and moved across an ocean, to be together. In Second Life they were known as Fallingwater Cellardoor and Eddie Escher, and in 2004, they were among the world's best 3D artists. I wrote about how they met and fell in love then, but sad to say that Eddie, called Chris Edwards, passed away eariler this year, tragically just shy of his 45th birthday. Years before mesh or even sculpted prims, Eddie (a game dev artist by trade), showed how beautiful Second Life prims can be (see below). Fallingwater recently posted this sad news on the new Facebook group for longtime SLers, and since the story of their meeting is among my favorites, I wanted to share it here:
One of those projects was his original pod-shaped home in Clementina, and this is where he first met Fallingwater Cellardoor-- who as it happens, had noticed his talents a lot earlier before she started talking to his floating brain... A web programmer and Photoshop artist, Fall first came to Second Life in late October, on the recommendation of her brother. She was looking for a place to call home, flying over the continent, when she came across Eddie's home in Clementina. "And I thought, 'Wow, whoever built this must be really cool, and I'll be intimidated by him, because he's so good."
... "I remember when I first started fancying Fall," Eddie recounts. "She always had people visiting her on her plot, and sometimes I was a bit shy, and wouldn't go over... I was a bit of a hermit, always building rather than socializing." That he didn't immediately join her endless stream of visitors suggested something else was at work. "By that time we had become friends," says Eddie, "and I guess I was starting to feel an attraction to her. Otherwise, I wouldn't have felt shy."
... That's about when they decided to meet each other in person, and at this point, it's worth mentioning that Eddie Escher lives in England-- and Fallingwater Cellardoor lives on the East Coast. So Eddie's first flight out to Fallingwater was no small expense. And no small risk, if things didn't work as well in first life, as they did in-world.
"You want to know my bestest, favoritest happy memory from my life so far?" Eddie asks me later. "It was our first kiss, meeting for the first time in [the airport.] Seriously. Everything around us just melted away, man, for both of us. I have no idea how long we were standing there like that."
Read the rest here. which has more photos of Eddie/Chris' work, and pay your respects on Fallingwater's tribute to him here. Today, as it happens, would have been their 10th wedding anniversary.
UPDATE, 8:45pm: Via Fizik Baskerville, here's a short documentary of the couple beautifully created for a UK television show:
Birthday photo and Eddie Escher home courtesy Fallingwater.
Please share this post:
Tragic news, I remember working with Eddie back in the day. Super talented guy.
Posted by: Damien Fate | Wednesday, November 12, 2014 at 03:23 PM
I am very saddened by this news, their love story was one of the great things that come out of Second Life. He contributed so much as did she to the grid, and we still talk about her and miss her work. I am glad they found eachother for the time they got to share.
All my best wishes to everyone that lost such a lovely person.
xoxoSasyxoxox
Posted by: Sasy Scarborough | Wednesday, November 12, 2014 at 03:59 PM
So sad. But for a short while they had each other and that was good. Seacliff was my first discovery in Second Life and one of my favourite places. Thank you for making that place.
Posted by: Alazarin | Thursday, November 13, 2014 at 12:40 AM
R.I.P:(
Posted by: zz bottom | Thursday, November 13, 2014 at 01:54 AM
Sad to see him go away so young. Condolences to his friends and relatives.
Posted by: DD Ra | Thursday, November 13, 2014 at 05:32 AM
This is a rather touching story and its good to see that his final years were years with someone to love.
For those without Facebook, what happened? Long term illness or sudden tragedy?
Posted by: Pussycat Catnap | Thursday, November 13, 2014 at 04:18 PM
Facebook group is closed, so posting not visible.
Very sorry for your loss.
Posted by: Betsy | Thursday, November 20, 2014 at 02:21 AM