I have a feeling I'll regret this, but I flagged your post because:

1. In general, meta discussion like this does not improve HN, but is a distraction from useful content and discussion.

2. It's none of your business how edw519 chooses to spend his time.

If you want to start some kind of crusade, either to bring edw519 back or prevent HNers from "scaring people off" in the future, I think you're fighting a losing battle. If you valued his contribution so much, why not follow his example and contribute positively instead?

Flagging isn't a "this person broke the rules" thing so much as a "this post is inappropriate or harmful to the site" thing.

"Meta" discussion tends to get flagged heavily, because a lot of people feel like, "I'm here for interesting discussion about hacking and entrepreneurship, not to watch Hacker News stare at its own navel." It's basically off-topic.

Posts about individual HN posters also seem to get a lot of flags, as many people find it kind of creepy and/or invasive.

The unwritten rule of not forcing painful introspection onto people.

See here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4365778