Sad news indeed.
On a lighter note, one of my colleagues recalled a meeting with Alan where he saw some rather large, old, but still functional CCTVs dominating a recently modernised resource unit.
Asking Alan why the CCTVs hadn't been renewed as well, Alan replied, "On no! They work perfectly, but they are so big, heavy and ugly, that nobody round here will steel them!".
George Bell
Techno-Vision Systems Ltd
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Liz Thompson [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: 09 January 2004 12:44
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Alan Muller
>
> Very sad news. He will be missed.
>
> Liz
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: David Laycock [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> > Sent: Friday, January 09, 2004 9:22 AM
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Alan Muller
> >
> > Those who remember Alan will be sad to hear that he
> collapsed and died
> > outside his home on Wednesday afternoon. He was 61 and had been an
> > enthusuastic player in the sector throughout the nineties until ill
> > health forced him to take early retirement.
> >
> > At a time when disability support services are taken for
> granted (even
> > if they don't get all the support they would like) Alan's
> experience
> > is a stark reminder of how things were just a few years
> ago. He'd done
> > a range of physically demanding jobs until his health began
> to decline
> > in his forties. He described himself as a late developer
> educationally
> > and it was while he was on a degree course at Middlesex around
> > 1989 that he noticed a fellow student was blind. Despite his own
> > difficulties, it grieved him that there was virtually no support
> > available for her so he set about investigating talking books,
> > recording lectures etc.
> >
> > When the course ended he made Middlesex an offer they could
> scarcely
> > refuse, namely to set up a disability support service for
> the price of
> > an office and phone line. To fund the service he set up a charity
> > called The Able Centre but his success in '93 and '94 with bids for
> > HEFCE funding finally made him legitimate in the eyes of the
> > University and he was transferred to payroll.
> >
> > From here on there was no stopping him. He rescued a sign language
> > bureau on point of closure by buying it off an LEA for £1,
> then went
> > after Access Centre status. I followed him every step of
> the way and
> > shared his frustration each time he thought he had his premises
> > settled only to find they vanished in the University's
> various space
> > saving exercises. Finally he succeeded but the increased workload
> > alongside his still declining health proved too much and he
> was forced
> > to retire on health grounds.
> >
> > Not that that meant fireside and carpet slippers. He never lost his
> > interest in disability support which he regarded as the most
> > worthwhile phase of his life despite being all too short. He was an
> > adviser on building adaptations for a group of architects
> working for
> > a Jewish charity, and only on Monday of this week we attended an IT
> > trainers training day together. On our way home he
> commented that he
> > would just have time for a rest and something to eat before
> attending
> > the fitness committee of his local gym, of which he was chair (of
> > course) and fitness programme organiser.
> >
> > Like everything he did, he did it with passion.
> >
> > Dave Laycock
> >
> > Head of CCPD
> > Chair of NADO
> > Computer Centre for People with Disabilities University of
> Westminster
> > 72 Great Portland Street
> > London W1N 5AL
> >
> > tel. 020 7911-5161
> > fax. 020 7911-5162
> > WWW home page: http://www.wmin.ac.uk/ccpd/
>
>
> ---
> Incoming mail is certified Virus Free.
> Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
> Version: 6.0.558 / Virus Database: 350 - Release Date: 02/01/2004
>
>
---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.558 / Virus Database: 350 - Release Date: 02/01/2004
|