Jef, you will be greatly missed

Jef Raskin -- creator of the Macintosh project at Apple, a much-published writer (e.g., The Humane Interface, Addison-Wesley 2000), consultant, and so much more -- died this past weekend.

Jef was always willing to speak at a BayCHI meeting whenever I asked him to do so, which I did multiple times when I was BayCHI's Program Chair. On one of these occassions, I was given the privilege of interviewing Jef on stage on the topic of "crimes against the human interface." And Jef appeared on the final program of my 12-year, Program Chair stint. During all of his appearances, Jef talked at least abit about his experiences with companies that did not understand the important role of the "human interface" to their business.

Jef was passionate about his work, and was passionate about so much else as well (e.g., building and playing organs, building and flying kites), as was evident when I visited Jef in his home.

I did not know Jef well, but he was a friend and a big supporter of mine. I will miss him.

He will be greatly missed by many.