This is my 526th column…more than a decade of weekly jottings about, well, “This, That and the Other”. This also marks my final column. It has been fun and I appreciate those loyal readers who have laughed, cried and been angry about the many topics that entered my mind before finding their way onto my iPad and then into this column.

It has been heartwarming to be stopped in a grocery store, retail shop or gas station by someone asking, “Aren’t you the guy who writes that column?”

I’ve enjoyed talking with readers…even those who don’t agree with my opinions. Though it is an opinion column…facts and truths were always the birthplaces of my rants and raves.

Now is a good time to move on. I am writing a long overdue novel…and it is time to turn another page in my career…and my life.

I want to thank you readers…always a driving force among the reasons I wrote 526 columns. Of course, I want to thank those I worked with at iNFOnews…Howard Alexander, an editor and friend who read each column…wrote the headlines and often found just the right photo to accompany each story.

Likewise, Managing Editor Marshall Jones has been there through thick and occasional thin with me, doing his usual superb job as the journalistic equivalent of someone who herds cats for a living.

Peter Boyd, president of Infotel Multimedia, has been a friend and loyal reader, as well, and I have come to respect his kindness, talents and judgment as he guides the daily operations of the company.

Finally, the Publisher, Chairman and Owner of iNFOnews and Infotel Multimedia, Bonnie Derry, who trusted and supported my efforts…a huge thank you for providing a platform unequalled in the Okanagan for opinion, local news, investigative journalism, touching human interest stories and information of interest to hundreds of thousands of residents. You are an unknown treasure to those who have benefitted from your innovative and visionary leadership of the company for 30 years.

So, with those appropriate and sincere thank yous, I’ll end, dear friends, by acknowledging that I will miss writing for you. It has been a rewarding experience that I will always cherish. Thanks, again…and may you always be curious about life’s “This, That & The Other”.

— We’re sorry to see you go, Don, but can’t wait to read that novel when it’s finished — Mj