An online newsgroup is reporting the passing of Ted Carpenter, a brilliant anthropologist and media theorist. He was a long-time collaborator with Marshall McLuhan, and his broad-ranging cultural analyses had a huge influence on the discipline of media theory.

I can still remember the delight and amazement of reading Oh, What a Blow That Phantom Gave Me! in grad school. He was a true visionary in the field, and his contributions will be missed. You can learn about Carpenter on Wikipedia, this excellent overview by Harald Prins and John Bishop from Visual Anthropology Review, or visit the online resource site, Virtual Snow.

Our thoughts are with his family, friends, and colleagues at this sad time.

Editorial note: While I have not been able to find a published source to confirm, the Media Ecology Association list where this was posted includes people who worked closely with Carpenter.