A message from Alma Swan (a.s...@talk21.com) and Paul Ayris (p.ay...@ucl.ac.uk):
Friends, It is with great sadness that we have to tell you of the death last week of Fred Friend. Fred was one of the staunchest supporters of Open Access and worked to further its aims for almost two decades. Early in that period he was, of course, Librarian at University College London, a position that gave him influence and the means to push arguments for openness that were at the time new and considered rather heretical. After retirement from that post Fred served for many years as a consultant to JISC, advising and carrying out research work for JISC on scholarly communications. He was in his element in this role as it gave him the opportunities he needed to continue making the arguments for Open Access and to develop practical initiatives that helped to advance the cause. Latterly, Fred pursued his aims through continuing consultancy jobs and indeed at the time of his death he was embarking on an ambitious analysis of OA policies. We have lost a very good friend of Open Access and a great humanitarian. For many there will also be the feeling of losing a kind and loyal personal friend. His daughter, Cate, said to us, ³It means so much to hear about his professional life - he was so private and so humble that he never really talked about what he did (I used to joke with him and tell him that I told everyone that he was a spy!).² We would like the OA community -- Fred¹s friends -- to let Cate and the rest of Fred¹s family know about the work Fred did and the great colleague that he was, so we are going to collect tributes to Fred and his work and will put these together into a book for his family. If you have something to say, please email your words to one of us, including your job title where relevant to give some context to your comments for the family. Thank you in advance for your contributions. For those who can attend the funeral, the ceremony will be held at 12.30pm on Thursday 1st May at St Michael and All Angels, Hughenden, near High Wycombe in the UK. The family will welcome anyone who can be with them on that occasion.
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