Good luck to you, Eric. And welcome to the swelling ranks of the unemployed journalist. You have a lot of company here.

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Simply can't believe it. I learned a lot from Eric during our little Tampa Calling contributor meetings and I wish him all the best.

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You have my sincerest empathy, Eric. You were the best writer I've ever had the privilege of copy editing, an inimitable wit, and the most wicked wiffle ball pitcher CL will ever know.

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My best to you, Eric. Sad to hear about this.

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He couldn't be THAT well thought of or he wouldn't have been canned. But, putting kind parting words aside - from a loal band perspective, it's about time. Snider was routinely dismissive of those not in his clique and was more of a wall when reaching out to Creative Loafing, than an open door. Now that Snider can no longer stike back by backballing people, you'll see what the locals REALLY thought about him.

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Eric's touch and depth will definitely be missed at CL. Dave, the world does not revolve around local bands. If your band was newsworthy, Eric would have written about it as he did many times. There's no entitlement to coverage just because you're in a band.

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Martin, You're not reading. I didn't say if Snider had, over the years, covered one of my 4 bands or not. Fact is, he did. I also didn't say that I thought I was entitled to coverage or that my band deserved any at all. You made all of that up. What I said was Snider was dismissive of people. Your contention that IF my band was newsworthy, Eric WOULD have written about it, sounds painfully like "Snider's judgement is always right - question not." Unfortunately, Snider has the same opinion of himself as you do, and it shows. I'm sure he was a great guy to those he worked with. That's usually the case. He was, in fact, pompous and dismissive to deal with. Unless you were important, or had beer or breasts, you were more often than not not worthy of his time. If you have a different experience, say so and defend him - don't denegrate me for the things you simply made up about my band.

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Dave, I'm not picking on you or your band(s), and not making stuff up. I'm simply saying that if you seek affirmation from a writer that dismisses your band, so be it. It does not reflect on the writer or the person, or your band for that matter. I'm not defending his dismissing of specific bands, I'm defending his right to do so. Try getting phone calls, promo packs, emails, faxes, videos, etc. from hundreds of local bands. I'm sure that would be great fun to hear about how amazing they all are. If there's a music writer who's receptive to everything that comes his/her way, that's not too promising. Also, Eric was not primarily a music writer, so that was one of my main reasons for questioning the entitlement.

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Martin, Seriously, you need to READ before you respond. And despite what you say, you ARE making stuff up. Read back. Who first said Snider dismissed bands? (YOU) Who first said Snider dismissed MY band? (YOU) In fact, your entire response is a defense of Snider's reasons (and right) to dismiss BANDS. But... I never said any of that. Only YOU did. That's called making stuff up. What I said (and PLEASE READ closely this time) is that Snider is dismissive of PEOPLE. He was typically rude and uncaring, Unless you were part of his inner clique. If you were outside that clique, you couldn't get the time of day from him. Snider started out as a music writer for 10 or 15 years before even joining CL. Since you don't seem to know that, you've obviously never dealt with him in that capacity. So you have no clue about how he dealt with people (managers, club owners, female fans, strangers or musicians), do you? If he underwent a personality conversion in the last five years, that's outside my personal experience. But, seeing he's been canned AGAIN by another local newspaper or magazine makes me wonder. (Yeah, I know, THIS time it's because of restructuring.) If you're his buddy and you don't like to see anything negative about him, that's OK. If you're NOT his buddy, then your blind, blanket defense is nothing less than insulting. Without even understanding what I'm saying, you're talking down to me like I'm just some guy who's pissed off because Snider didn't like my band. Nothing could be further from the truth (again, READ my comments). So please... don't invent scenarios in your mind, attribute them to me, then respond like I'm some rejected lover. Both your responses are - dare I say it - dismissive and your compassion is noticeably absent, ESPECIALLY since you don't even seem to know the guy's history. Well, a lot of us DO know. A lot of us put up with him for decades because that's what you do, put up with critics - good and bad. Outside of a club listing, Philip Booth never wrote one word about any of my bands over the years, and he's one of the nicest, most sincere guys on earth. Snider would have to look Sincerity up in the dictionary. Bottom line is, I, for one, am glad Snider's gone. And if you did a little research (or, at the very least, accurately read what people like me are stating), you'd see there are many, many more that feel the same way, too. There will be some celebrations this weekend in Ybor.

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