Quote:

Aussie - Aussieslinger passed away suddenly on the 30th of march 2013. Ludek to his friends, Ludwik siedlecki AKA Aussie was one of the longest and steadiest members of this forum and probably the most generous man I've ever known.   Almost the last thing he ever did was to log on to the forum and prepare to send some aussie slings out to members around the world.   A long time employee of the Australian postal service, Aussie developed his aussie-pouch using material from discarded conveyor belts.   From january 2007 to the day he died, over six years later, Aussie was still making and sending pouches to anyone, anywhere in the world who wanted one.   Completely free of charge.   I'm not sure if we'll ever get a full count, as the first ones were unnumbered, but over the years, with only a few short pauses, he sent out many hundreds of pouches and complete slings, never once asking for anything in return.   As well as being a long serving moderator and the forum expert on David and Goliath, Aussie's posts were always intelligent and he was never shy of taking a stand on something he felt strongly about.   As well as giving to the forum, he also got something back in return. His estranged half-brother - whom Aussie had never met, tracked him down through his article on david and goliath, joined the forum to email aussie and they were eventually reunited.   He always kept his family life seperate from his online 'life' - which is one reason we didn't find out about his death untill almost two months after - but he felt strongly enough to share the story of meeting his brother with us.   One of my strongest regrets is that I never got the chance to meet him in the 'real' world.   But that must be tempered with the undoubtable fact that the 'virtual' world allowed me to know a man half a world away, who I respected and whom I will never forget.   Godspeed mate, go teach those angels to sling. You will be remembered.

Please add your own memories and words about Aussie to this thread.

I am very sad and shocked to hear that Aussie passed away.

There is little I can add to C_A's words. One of the kindest hearts I have known on this forum is no more.

My thoughts and prayers are with the people he left behind.

Rest in peace, my friend.

Oh man, Aussie passed away two months ago and this is the first time we heard anything about it. I don´t know what to say, the news just hit me like a brick wall.

Aussie, even though I never personally met you, I could tell you were one of the kindest men I´ve heard of, you gave six years of your life to help slingers around the globe and asked for nothing in return, other than the friendship of forum members. I for one, will always have in my memories with the greatest regards and respect.

I will honor you by making a 21 sling crack salute.

Goodbye Aussie, may you find the peace all of us seek so desperately.      

That is really terrible news, my friends  :-[

Honor of his memory.

I'm sorry to hear the news; Aussie was one of the most generous members of the forum.

My prayers are with his family.


-Timothy Potter

Being a relatively new member I never got a chance to converse with Aussie, or know him in any way, but the death of someone who happily gave his time and effort to others is always a great shame.

It's sad to hear that a member passed away who joined up more or less simultaneously with me. My memory of him is, as already said by others, his constant stream of sent away slings. He certainly leaves a big gap in this community.

I wish his family all the best especially in such hard times. If you look up into the sky at night and see a shooting star, you will know that it is a sling stone from him, sent as a greeting to you.

This is so sad.Ludwik,old pal,I'll miss your weather reports by P.M.,the packages in the mail,your understanding and guiding voice of resaon and so much more.

 Godspeed buddy! :'(

I an sad hearing this.  He did, and knew, so much.  

I'm praying for his family.

He did a lot of work on here, especially in the way of the physics of the sling. He wrote a great chapter on said physics for TSG so his work will live on.

You have my honor and respect.



- Dan

I was deeply saddened to hear of the sudden passing of Aussie. He was truly one of the good ones and his presence will be sorely missed.My prayers go out to this family and those close to him. His generosity will live on in all the wonderful slings he sent out. (I have one, thankfully). :'(

That was a very nice memorial from all of you guys. Well done : )

I'm sorry to learn of Aussie's passing. We never interacted, but I learned to respect his reasoned tones where contentious issues cropped up. He'll be missed, here and wherever he was known.

Is there anything we can do to let his family know that we feel for their loss, and to let them
know what he did for this little community of ours?
Or would be an intrusion on their grief?

I'm very shocked and sad Aussie passed away this year. He undoubtedly contributed the most towards slinging as anyone ever has. The selflessness of sending out hundreds and hundreds of slings will never be forgotten in this community as well as the Aussie sling design which will be celebrated long into the future in this community. Every time we use our Aussie slings he sent to us we will remember his kindness and impact on the community.

Rest in peace Aussie. We shall pray for your family.

Ps. Please ask David what sling he used and what slinging style he favored the most for us all

Liberty dog wrote on May 26^th, 2013 at 8:41am:

Is there anything we can do to let his family know that we feel for their loss, and to let them know what he did for this little community of ours?

I have sent a message on behalf of us all to Aussie's mobile phone - perhaps his family will receive this message. I believe his family knows exactly how much of an impact he had on our community as his daughter and friends were all taught how to sling and judging by the amount of time he must have spent making and posting out the slings.

That's terrible news to hear about Aussie passing. He was one of the most generous members of our little community and a great influence to new and experienced slingers a like.

His Aussie Pouches were one of the perfect tools in allowing a relatively new member to have some proper equipment in learning our art. His Seatbelt Sling design changed the whole way I looked at slinging and has allowed me to give away countless slings and to teach many folks the joy of a far flung stone.

I remember when he introduced the Seatbelt Sling and how much trouble I was having learning how to make them. Over the course of dozens of PMs and an picture tutorial, with more patience then I deserved, he finally explained it in a way that clicked with me.

He was an asset to our community and will be sorely missed.

My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

RIP Ludek.

I had really nice, heart-warming correspondence with him, a real gentleman. He was very kind to me, in letters, when my father died. Also clearly a good family man, selfless and thoughtful.

As for his posts, their careful attention to physics, their lack of boastfulness and their solidity made them great.

We all knew he had heart problems (recent bypass), but this is very sad to hear. From the forum, you can see that he promised someone a pouch on the day he died.

I always have an aussiesling in my pocket; the other one I gave away to a boy.

Well remembered-- our Ludek.

Aussie and I joined within a month or so of each other in what seems like the prehistory of the forum.

Amongst his other interests, he shared with me a fascination in the physics of the sling. One of those things that seems so easy until you actually try to explain it, and find it to be more subtle than one would imagine. We talked about it over PM, and I suspect if we had met in person the talk would have been long. I was pleased to read that he had finished his chapter in the Slinger's Guide, When I read it I will be reminded of him again.

In all my interactions with him I found him quiet and thoughtful. His evident respect for others came across so plainly both in his public and private messages. I found him truly a man to be admired.

It seems quite a number got to know him through his personal messages. It's apparent that he enjoyed such interactions greatly, and he enriched our lives with them.

His Aussie pouch and seatbelt sling are both the stuff of legend on this site. Those of us with one of his repurposed pieces of Australian Post Office equipment have a tangible memento to the man, and I regret I never asked him for one!

For those of us past a certain age, to be connected through such a great physical distance is somewhat miraculous. I think we both expected, rather than just hoped, to meet. Sadly that will not be the case, at least in this life.

One of the imperfections of the internet is that we can forget how tenuous the connection actually is. People easily can vanish without leaving any trace.

By a fluke of circumstances Aussie had my e-mail address, and his daughter was kind enough to let me know of his passing in an e-mail last week.

She asked that those who would wish to send a message to the family send it through PM  to me. Naturally I will respect the contents of any such messages absolutely, and will pass them on as received.

Very good tribute. Ludwik had great respect for you.

It is a great shame that Aussie has gone ahead of us. His generosity has had a huge impact on our sport. I had two pouches from him and they were my first decent slings. He also put in a lot of time as a moderator here during the spam wars. My condolences to his family, I know they have lost a great man.

I am sad to see the  announcement of the passing of Aussie. He first introduced me to slinging.org and it became apparent that he was a large part of the site.  I have no idea how many “Aussie pouches” he sent all over the world including two to me. Though I never met him I felt the connection of our age, lovely daughters that sling, and his enthusiasm for slinging.  Slinging.org will miss him!  Somehow the simple announcement of his death seems inadequate. I think a thread of tribute would be appropriate where members could voice their thoughts.

Condolences to his family if they visit this site.

G’Day mate  RIP

Yeah, that's a great example-- when scoteeball posted that vid of him slinging fig-8 over the river, it was aussie who went out to find and invite him here. Also a sign of Ludwik's interest in fig-8, which he liked and practised.

Quote:

Somehow the simple announcement of his death seems inadequate. I think a thread of tribute would be appropriate where members could voice their thoughts.

You're posting in it :noidea:

  Aussie was a kind, generous, caring person.  He greatly influenced this site and the sport of slinging.  Countless kids in my neighborhood have Aussie pouches.  He was a friend, mentor, and a good example of what we should all aspire to be more like.  We were privileged to have him as a moderator and member.  RIP, Aussie.  Condolences and sympathies to your loved ones.  Thanks for everything, Aussie.  We'll always remember and miss you.

Curious Aardvark wrote on May 28^th, 2013 at 6:14am:

Quote: Somehow the simple announcement of his death seems inadequate. I think a thread of tribute would be appropriate where members could voice their thoughts. You're posting in it :noidea:

Um, I think Scoteeball posted separately, and Masi moved his post here, to join other posts.

Curious Aardvark wrote on May 28^th, 2013 at 6:14am:

Quote: Somehow the simple announcement of his death seems inadequate. I think a thread of tribute would be appropriate where members could voice their thoughts. You're posting in it :noidea:

Yes I failed to find this thread and posted another. Thanks Masia for steering me here. You mods do a great job! CA was another to welcome me early on. I will say thanks while you are all still around :-[ I just knew there would be more response than I was seeing and this thread is a nice tribute to a good man.

Does anyone know what Aussie's first post ever was ?

you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just

Thearos wrote on May 28^th, 2013 at 2:12pm:

Does anyone know what Aussie's first post ever was ?

You'd think it would be easy to find - you'd be wrong. I do know that 2 months after joining he was sending out aussie pouches.

He joined 6 november 2006 - no posts in any of the then existing forums around that date that I can find. which is pretty weird.
I'll keep looking

I'm not sure if this was his very first post or not but it was made on the day he joined:

http://slinging.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1160636872/15

Also, I thought I'd post the verse he always put next to his name:

"And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just."  Luke 14:14

-Timothy Potter

Nice find-- you can see Ludek already thinking about seatbelts, and indeed, the Aussiepouch !

RIP Ludek.

Thanks to your generosity in my early days of slinging, I was able to develop as a slinger and your slings never failed me, so I never gave up!
I will always be grateful.

_K_

his registration date keeps changing - ghost in the machine maybe :-)

did he at least die an honorable death? he was a good man and deserved one, i hope that he did

I would just like to say that I, like all of you, am saddened by the loss of our friend. I would also like to say that I am honored to have been influenced by this man. He gave me two of his pouches, one being ideal for golf balls and one ideal for tennis balls. That changed the way that I practice. I started training with tennis balls! I started training other people with his pouch design and tennis balls, people who wouldn't have started with river stones for fear of breaking things. It seems a little thing but to me it meant the world. I saved his correspondence to me about his pouch design in my forum inbox and I'd like to post that, so here it is:

" Subject: Re: Sling pouch ?
« Date: Jul 4th, 2008, 4:53am » Hi there Mike,

For some reason I often read your slinging name as spooky SHOTGUN rather than SHOGUN. I guess the site predisposes one to thinking of weapons rather than emperors. I will be glad to send you a pouch or two so you can try them out, though I hope you won't be disappointed. They are good basic equipment but no magic; best for tennis balls and other round ammunition as the cupping prevents the ball rolling out prematurely. Being synthetic they are waterproof which can be an advantage in wet weather.

Regards,

Aussie."


So, rest in peace Aussie, you will never be forgotten.

Thanks Aussie, I wish I had been able to know you longer.
R.I.P

The information about Aussie shocked me and made really sad. I couldn't believe it. We have exchanged a lot of PMs, I have read so many of his post. Although sometimes we had a bit different outlook on sling mechanics I always respected him as a good and clever man. Ludek was a one of the folks I have read the forum and written posts for.

I will miss your posts, Ludek. The sling I have got from you is especially valuable now. R.I.P and remember to sling the all asteroids far away from the Mother Earth.

Condolences to wife, daughter and other loved ones.

He admired your slinging and liked to write to you in Polish ! It's from your correspondance that I learned to call him Ludek, which he liked.

Well, I've been trying to come up with something appropriate and heartfelt and the right words just won't come. Here are the words I have. I counted Aussie as a friend. I tried repeatedly to gift various slings and things to him which he always refused graciously and suggested I send instead to new members. I talked with Aussie regularly, if infrequently, about my health and his after he PMed me with a message of concern out of the blue. I will miss him.

Last week I saw the sad news, unable to post in the forum. Being member since a few months I´ve never had the honor of direct communication with Aussie, but I´ve read a lot of his posts. Naturally I also copied his famous pouch design (with leather) and made some seatbelt slings.
Before registering I already knew the frequent writers by name and Aussie was one I´ve always appreciated.
I´ll sling some stones into the lake in his name.
R.I.P. Aussie

(delete)

R.I.P.
They manufacture slings through Aussie is alive.

His wife is English, am I right ? He once liked the expression "smidgen" I used, since he heard it from his wife.

Last night I had a dream, of a mock battle, with tennis balls and Aussie slings, between two teams on a field, one exclusively fighting with fig-8 and one with helicopter style. The tennis balls went fast, but were still dodgeable. It was like funerary games.

http://s20.postimg.org/orimmdbbd/100_6903.jpg

Thanks, Aussie, for this sling, and for helpful tips on how to sling better-- avoid the "forward topple". You even helped me devise a trianing programme !

---

Aussie was a great guy and very knowledgeable about slinging. Whenever I had a question about the physics aspects behind slinging,  he was always the first person's opinion I would seek out and generally the one which I regarded highest.  Anyone as selfless as Aussie has surely gone on to a better place, but he will be sorely missed.

I feel so sad....................


Michel

Damn, that sucks.

RIP buddy, you'll be missed. Prayers and thoughts with his family  :'(

RIP Aussie, I will remember you everytime I use your sling.

Just found the letter Ludwik joined with the slings. Nice, courteous, to the point, and lovely. An image of the man.

I have read this and I feel shocked and very sad. I don't know what to say.

All my thoughts with his family and friends.

Oh wow--I didn't even realize this section was added!

I may not have been particularly close to Aussie, but I was still greatly saddened by news of his passing. He definitely did have an impact on not only my slinging, but the education of many others both directly and indirectly. His Aussie slings and seatbelt slings alone were a huge help with introducing new people to the art.

I still have several Aussie pouches--one of which is my third most used sling, and at 5 years old, is by far my oldest still in continual use. The seatbelt sling remains my all-around favorite non-braided sling design, rivaling even my love for braided slings: and that's saying a lot. Not only is it tough as nails, easy to make, and smooth as silk on the release, but it can also look really classy as well.

He has been a tremendous help with reintroducing the modern world to the art of the sling, and will be missed greatly. Here's to you, Ludek. *toasts with whiskey*

RIP Aussie. I popped back into the forum today, and noticed so many new and better changes. Unfortunately, this wasn't one of them.

This is... not something I expected to see.  Farewell, Aussie- you were a fine chap.  Ever since I first stumbled onto this site I admired your kindness, I always did look up to you...

I have one of his earlier sling pouches and had the honor to speak with him on the phone when I visited Sydney (he lives in Melbune).
So sad to hear the news. He'll certainly be missed. I told him I'll be showing my grand children his sling pouch one day. I intend to keep my promise. RIP

you will be missed

I had 2 of Aussiesling's pouches. I was thrilled that he sent them most of the way around the world, just for free. I gave one to a friend, and the other I kept, and made my own sling from. The pouch is numbered #201.

Just from that simple pouch, and Aussie's charity, I learned a lot about slinging. In fact the pouches I make now are direct (but not as good) copies of his...because they work.

I will miss him here. I hope and pray The Lord watches over his family.

bought 100 used tennisballs for aussie-sling-practice yesterday and today (after not checking the forum for some time) i read about this... :(

s.i.p. aussie!
l
i
n
g

This is the saddest news that I have heard in a long time.  He really did a lot for slinging.  Not even two weeks ago I taught kids how to throw tennis balls with the sling he sent me when I started throwing.  Sad day.

In the "Hi from the UK" thread, I mentioned how to make a quick Aussie-style seat-belt sling.

This is so strange.
This morning I woke up and, being the last day of my spring break, I sat there thinking about what to do. I noticed on my shelf my old sling, the golf ball sling I made almost 2 years ago. I went out back and tried slinging again, and frankly I was terrible. At least the rocks went forward!
Anyway, over the last two years I've forgotten about slinging. But I didn't forget how kind the people of slinging.org were for me though. We all have rough times but I was on the verge of killing myself and the kindness from this little forum got me through it. A few slings sent from a few members, including Aussie, and the rocks in my backyard gave me something to take my mind off my problems, and I'll never forget that.
I wish Aussie could know how he saved my life, because in a way he did. And after seeing this post for the first time today I strung up one of the pouches he sent me and tomorrow I'm going to go to an open field and let 'er rip!
If anyone knows of a source for the belt that he used to make his slings, even if I have to order if from Australia, I'd like to know. I'd like to make a few of his pouches, and if I can afford it, send a few out to members here.
RIP Aussie, you were a great guy I never met. Stardust to stardust, and the world keeps turning.

Aussie was such a great man.
Leather can be used instead of the belting.
Also, duct tape laminated over Tyvek can also be used.
It is easy to assemble too!

Aussies slings were made from used Australian post office conveyor belt.
You should find used conveyor belt material in  the skip at any modern factory :-)

And yeah, he was a supremely generous man.

Did Aussie ever publish the template somewhere ? I remember seeing something on inch-ruled paper. In fact, the instructions for the Aussie sling deserve to be on a stickie.

RIP our Ludek !

Thearos wrote on Apr 18^th, 2014 at 11:21am:

Did Aussie ever publish the template somewhere ? I remember seeing something on inch-ruled paper. In fact, the instructions for the Aussie sling deserve to be on a stickie. RIP our Ludek !

Aussie posted a pattern with some instructions on this thread: http://slinging.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1332178857/22#22

-Timothy Potter

Thanks, Timothy. Means a lot coming from you !

http://slinging.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1315012082/0

Thanks, Aussie.

Oh my...I was gone for this long? That's so sad..

i wasn't able to interact with Aussie on here sadly, but from what I've seen he is an amazing guy and was a major role model for many slingers. i only wish i would have been able to talk to him here....  :'(

I was just reading some of this thread.... I wonder if his surviving family knows how much he impacted our community.
Im sure they would be proud to read this thread.

Aussie pouch-- found the sling yesterday, the letter that accompanied Ludek's gift a few days before that.

---

And we impacted on his life too.

His brother found ludek through the forum and they were reunited after a lot of years. Think they lost touch when ludek moved to australia.

I'm not sure if he ever posted that in the open forum or just in the moderator section.

Wow-- he never mentioned that to (or if he did, it slipped my mind). He did mention his daugther, who visited the UK just at a time when for family reasons I was abroad.

well he won't mind now I'll dig his post out.

he posted this back in july 2008

Quote:

Dear All, Something truly amazing happened a few weeks ago which, being intensely personal, I was hesitant to post about generally but would like to share with you. I have a half brother from my father's first marriage whom I had never met or had any contact with at all. All I knew was that he had fled Poland as a young adult and now lived "somewhere in the US". At 20 years my senior for all I knew he might have passed away already. Then a few weeks ago I got an Email from a Stanley Siedlecki entitled, "Looking for my Brother" In it he stated how his father had migrated to Australia and died there years ago and other personal details which put it beyond any doubt that he was my long lost brother. Apparently he had been trying to locate me for a number of years now and even enlisted the help of the Australian Embassy. As I am almost certainly the only Ludwik Siedlecki in Australia and probably have less than a dozen namesakes worldwide I don't imagine they tried too hard to find me though. Actually he finally located me via the article, published on this site, that I wrote about David's Sling, and joined specifically to contact me. So we now have a member, StanleySiedlecki, who has zero posts, zero PM's and has probably not been on the site since joining and has virtually no interest in slinging. But I have the expectation of soon seeing my brother whom I never expected to meet in this life. He and his wife intend visiting Australia in the near future. He has now moved back to Poland but his business interests keep him criss-crossing the Atlantic repeatedly. His Polish is of course flawless. His English, even after half a century of living in the US, is foreign influenced southern accent, just occassionally slightly unusualy constructed betraying his Polish origins. (My Polish is pretty good esp. for someone who has never lived there.) Strong family resemblance, though he certainly doesn't look 20 years older, ie. I'm decaying faster. Thought I'd share that with you. Funny how things work out. Also the EM address he wrote to is one I seldom use or even check and the message was less than two days old when I read it. Regards, Aussie. Back to top

Amazing or what :-)

You shall definitely be remembered Aussie. Even though l never did get my sling lol. Thank-you Aussie no matter where you might be

:-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( D**m, been gone way to long from this site. Sad to hear of Aussies passing. He was a wonderful gent and eager to share his knowledge and with out his help I couldn't have gotten as far as I did in researching the Gdnask "Sling" artifact :(

I am sorry Aussie was called by Azrael, I am sure his wings are amazing. I got one of his slings and it was not used much at all. It still has his signature and #49.

   Hard to believe it's been over seven years now.  My God, how time flies.

Rat Man wrote on Aug 31^st, 2020 at 4:33pm:

Hard to believe it's been over seven years now.  My God, how time flies.

My top person I wish I could talk to again on here. What a great man.

Ludek was a one off.
When zud was here the other week, I found one of the original Aussie pouches.
With stitches not glue and predating the numbering :-).

It had some serious usage and I stopped using it when the stitches started to really fray.
A genuine part of global slinging history.

I miss you, Aussie. I was one of the junior guys you sent slings to - #52a and b, actually

I passed b along to someone I was teaching, and I've kept a safely and in good repair ever since, as well as studying the fine construction to make my own in the future - a has been retired, but is to be buried with me, along with my tomahawk

I learned so much from our talks, not just slinging, but how to be less of a hot-head

Sorry I'm just now getting to post this, and wish I could have said goodbye earlier, but I'll see you one day, and we'll have to crack open a bottle, you can bring some pierogi, I'll bring some brisket, and we'll sit by a bonfire.

Farewell to a good man,
Gronk