Mark K. Bayless, 46, who was the moderator of a yahoogroups list on Bigfoot, Bigfoot books, and an active cryptozoology email correspondent to many of us, has passed away.

The Snakes of Arkansas Forum, on Friday, November 3, 2006, is posting this news:

We are saddened to report that Mark K. Bayless of Berkeley, California, died of complications of diabetes the morning [of November 1, 2006], aged 46. Mark was well known in the monitor community, having overseen the newsletter VaraNews that preceded websites and forums as a source of information about monitor husbandry and biology. An irrepressible Renaissance man, Mark assembled what is surely the largest existing collection of articles, accounts, stories and pictures of anything and everything related to monitors — it is less well known that his collections relating to the biology of whales, and cryptozoology, were even larger. Mark was always extremely generous in sharing any of the information he collected with anyone who asked, and a great many people….

Mark K. Bayless had been a herpetoculturist for 23 years and had written extensively about monitor lizards, especially the African species. This year saw the publication of his Red-tailed Boas, coauthored with Ben Aller (ISBN: 0-7938-2888-0; $9.95; Paperback; May, 2006). He also was the author of Savannah Monitors.

Our thoughts go out to all of Mark’s friends and family. Another young cryptozoologist has gone into the wilderness too early.