Comments on: John Iliff (1953-2006) – an inspiration http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/2006/05/09/john-iliff-1953-2006-an-inspiration/ A librarian, writer and educator reflecting on the profession and the tools we use to serve our patrons Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:11:50 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.3 By: Elizabeth Thomsen http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/2006/05/09/john-iliff-1953-2006-an-inspiration/comment-page-1/#comment-47013 Elizabeth Thomsen Fri, 12 May 2006 23:40:10 +0000 http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/index.php/?p=424#comment-47013 I think we all had the same thought-- it has to be a mistake, a different John Iliff, not our own John, who always seemed to be so much more alive than the rest of us! The first time I met him, he was demonstrating the Apple Newton, and the last time I saw him, he was doing an SMS presentation at CIL and we were planning a podcast together. (Seems like John was planning podcast projects with dozens of people!) In between, many technologies and trends have come and gone, but John was always John, excited about whatever was new and cool but always a patient teacher. And it was never really about the technology with John-- it was all, always, really about service. Really about people. I love what you wrote here: "I learned from John that I should never tone down my enthusiasm for this profession and for technology; that I should never become jaded and give up being idealistic." Good lessons to learn, and John was the perfect one to teach them! He'll be long remembered. I think we all had the same thought– it has to be a mistake, a different John Iliff, not our own John, who always seemed to be so much more alive than the rest of us!

The first time I met him, he was demonstrating the Apple Newton, and the last time I saw him, he was doing an SMS presentation at CIL and we were planning a podcast together. (Seems like John was planning podcast projects with dozens of people!) In between, many technologies and trends have come and gone, but John was always John, excited about whatever was new and cool but always a patient teacher. And it was never really about the technology with John– it was all, always, really about service. Really about people.

I love what you wrote here:
“I learned from John that I should never tone down my enthusiasm for this profession and for technology; that I should never become jaded and give up being idealistic.” Good lessons to learn, and John was the perfect one to teach them!

He’ll be long remembered.

]]> By: dave http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/2006/05/09/john-iliff-1953-2006-an-inspiration/comment-page-1/#comment-46622 dave Tue, 09 May 2006 13:21:47 +0000 http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/index.php/?p=424#comment-46622 This is terrible news! I had the opportunity to meet John briefly at Computers In Libraries too and went to one of his presentations. He was a great person and a great librarian. Have to add to what I'm sure will be a long list of condolences. This is terrible news! I had the opportunity to meet John briefly at Computers In Libraries too and went to one of his presentations. He was a great person and a great librarian. Have to add to what I’m sure will be a long list of condolences.

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