Please forgive my lack of knowledge but who was Darreck Lisle and what did he do?
Unfortunately, you're not alone. Most people left in the community are equally newbies and just never understood what the Amiga was about.
Darreck Lisle was officially the Community Relations person for Gateway's Amiga Inc. He was -- as I recall -- also the networking guy and about a zillion other things. Unlike Bill McEwen and "Fleecy" Moss who were merely contractors, he was actually employed by Gateway's Amiga Inc at their corporate offices in South Dakota.
I first contacted Darreck in 1997 with the business proposal for the User Group Network (UGN). He was the one that got us full support (or at least as much as he could) including the hardware, software, transportation, and ability to broadcast shows. He also got us a year's hosting at a major ISP and worked very, very hard to support the Amiga community as a whole.
For his trouble, he took a LOT of heat from Gateway and certain members of the community over his brief two year stint. He also earned the hatred of the current Amiga Inc management -- who as much as I can figure, resented the fact that he's the only one who ever got anything pushed ahead.
Ask Tigger, Ask ltstanfo, ask Kermit Woodall, ask tekmage, ask anyone you want, but Darreck is *the man* where supporting the Amiga community is concerned.
I know from painful first-hand experience that Bill McEwen isn't interested in supporting the community, but if Bill Buck ever asks me for one piece of advice, it would simply be to hire Darreck Lisle on the spot -- if he's interested after all the spit that Gateway and the current Amiga Inc put him through.