---
title: "Video entry, Mar 16"
url: https://alexhwilliams.com/post/28980180/russell-shaw-died-in-his-sleep-sometime-thursday/
description: "Russell Shaw died in his sleep sometime Thursday night or Friday morning at a hotel in San Jose. I heard the news today from Ellen, his girlfriend, the…"
published: 2026-08-13
updated: 2026-08-13
---

# Video entry, Mar 16

Published 2026-08-13

Mar

16

VideoPosted at 12:12am

[Russell Shaw](http://www.tumblr.com/new/%3Cp)[died in his sleep](http://andyabramson.blogs.com/voipwatch/2008/03/russell-shaw-ri.html) sometime Thursday night or Friday morning at a hotel in San Jose. I heard the news today from Ellen, his girlfriend, the woman he calls “his grounding force” in this interview I did with the two of them last year. He loved Ellen. They met last year. She said it was the sweetest time with Russ. I believe it. Russell looked great the last time I saw him. Ellen said that they had started talking about the rest of their lives together. She said she planned to retire in a year. Russ said he had no plans to retire. He would write until the very end.

Russell loved his work. [Marshall Kirkpatrick](http://marshallk.com) called him the “hardest working” blogger in the business. [Corante](http://corante.com) founder Hylton Joliffe introduced me to Russ. Hylton said “you have to meet Russell. He’s a rock star.”

Russell was a rock star blogger. He would wake at 4 a.m., write until 10 a.m. and then take a two hour nap. He’d then work until 10 p.m. He wrote as many as ten posts a day for such publications as Huffington Post and ZDNet. Andy Abramson said Russell was best known for his [BlackBerry blog](http://blogs.zdnet.com/blackberry/) that he was often the most proud of and his work with ZD Net where he blogged on all things [Telecom.](http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/)

When Ellen called, she said to sit down. She told me the news. I cried. Russ and I were buddies. I felt I knew him more than most folks. He had a big heart and a quick wit. Most of all, he’d listen and could relate to many of the issues I faced in my personal life. He’s what you wanted in a friend.

Funny, at SXSW, I kept thinking about Russ. I needed to touch base with him. I wanted to invite him and Ellen to our wedding. Ellen, I hope you will be there with us.

Judy asked today where I thought Russ might be right now. I though of his love for trains. I said he must be on a train, happy to be with loved ones.

I can’t believe he is gone.

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