...it's because it was first on something called YMS Homepage, and then at something called bigtimeFame on Homestead. And there's a story for both.
On 6 December 2000, I received, as a YMS Homepage Adopt-the-Star Volunteer, this announcement in my email about the YMS Homepage website:
Dear Friends,
We are sorry to say that we have been forced to cease operations effective immediately.
We would sincerely love to continue publishing YMS / YFS homepage, but recent circumstances have forced us to permanently shut down our websites. We wish to thank all of you who have visited us and supported us through the Friends List and Adopt-the-Star through our 4 1/2 year run. Thank you! We had fun with it; we hope you did also.
Why are we signing off?
A recent decision by a photographer to sue us has led to this point. This person claims we used several of his photographs without his permission. He is demanding we send him several thousand dollars and removal of the phots. Our attempts to resolve the situation by removing the photos immediately did not satisfy this person.
We feel this is an unfortunate situation, and an unwise course of action on the part of this gentleman. For now, it spells the end of one little website. But others could follow. We would suggest that if you are a webmaster, you review your use of all material on your website.
So now we say adieu.
Thank you for your support.
Bye bye bye!
the YMS / YFS homepage team
Having been one of the several people that maintained Noah Hathaway's bio since May 2000, scrounging the net for links and pix, this was a bad shock. I got away from the computer a bit, walked around, reread the message, then sent the following to my email contact at YMS:
Hello,
Just got the news and I'm a bit shaky. I can barely imagine what you and the other staff members are going through right now, but I hope all of you are well and that you all take care of yourselves and look after each other. I don't know what other Adopt-the-Star Volunteers are experiencing, but I hope they are well, too, and pass on my condolences.
While the future remains murky, I hope you have good legal council over there and can find your way through this. It would be terrible if it couldn't be resolved in some amicable way.
I'm gonna try to reproduce (sans photography) Noah Hathaway's page somewhere else [bigtimeFame], with all the links intact. Maybe other volunteers could do something on their own, elsewhere.
Pass this letter around if you can. My thoughts are with you.
