Wen-Lee "Ralph" Hong, age unknown, Atlanta, Georgia.

Wen-Lee "Ralph" Hong of Atlanta died on January 11. Ralph was born off the coast of Taiwan, and attended/ate schools of small fish until being captured by Taiwanese fishermen in 2004.

Ralph was a true explorer with a thirst for adventure. He traveled from Taiwan in a 20-foot box aboard a UPS 747 for 28 hours to achieve his dream of swimming around and eating plankton in Georgia, USA. At the time, it seemed better than getting eaten by the Taiwanese, and perhaps it was. He enjoyed swimming up, swimming down, eating piles of microscopic squigglies from a green plastic shovel, and scaring little children who smeared nose grime on his tank. His sense of fun and sparkling personality will be sorely missed by every redneck who ever rode the glacially slow people mover while staring heavenward, remarking "How'd ya like ta hook one uh them on yur Bream Buster?" or "Dang, is it a whale or is it a shark?" or perhaps most poignantly, "Y'all reckon they're good ta eat?"

Ralph is survived by his domestic partner Norton, who continues to swim up and down, devour algae, and delight the tank-topped throngs through a misty haze of grief. He is also survived by his good friends Alice and Trixie, who suspect that they're bumping into one less huge, dark object as they graze the tank.

Swim on, big boy, in that 6.2 million gallon tank in the sky.