Jack Pickard
Posted on: January 18th, 2010 | Filed under: remembers | 3 Comments »
In November 2005, I went to Manchester for an AccessifyForum meetup.
One of the people I met there was Jack Pickard, and while I don’t remember much of what we talked about, I do remember laughing a lot. With, rather than at, him.
Our paths crossed a few times since that weekend, and whenever we met, he was always kind, funny and obviously passionate about accessibility.
He was someone I didn’t see very often, but always enjoyed spending time with, and kind of assumed there’d be other chances to do so, so it was with no small amount of shock and sadness that I read on twitter last night that he had suddenly passed away over the weekend.
His passing is a tragedy, not only for the wife, two children and other family he leaves behind, but for the wider accessibility community. There aren’t so many of us that we can afford to lose the good ones.
Rest In Peace, Jack. You always were a thoroughly decent chap.
I, too, am deeply saddened by the loss of my friend. I have posted my sympathies in the various places for his family. I am posting here, too, because of the great photo of Jack. Hopefully more see this.
Just like you, I thought there would be many more chances to meet up and laugh with Jack. It reminds me how important it is to meet up with friends as often as possible.
We’ll miss you, Jack.
[...] reaction on twitter and facebook are a testament to the respect with which Jack was held online. As pixeldiva says, his loss is a tragedy for his wife, his children and family and the wider web accessiblity [...]