First of all, my condolences to Dieter's family and friends.
Dieter, I owe much of what I have here on Classic-Pirates and Eurobricks to you. You were the one who invited me to work on the blog, which really pushed me to do more for the community.
I still remember when you sent me my first pirate minifigures, a redcoat and a bluecoat, for free. Even when the first ones got lost in the mail, you sent me two more. That just shows how good of a person you were. Every time you chatted with me, sent me a PM, or posted something on the forum, you were always friendly, helpful and funny. Although I regrettably never had the chance to meet you in person, I feel that I got to know you very well just from the internet. It was a pleasure working with you, and the whole community will still feel your presence in future contests, because of all you have done to collect prizes for the site.
We will all greatly miss you, but we will never forget what you have done for us, and the whole LEGO community. Let us all raise one final glass of Zorro's famous rum for our friend Dieter...