<html><body><div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #006600"><div>Hi<br></div><div><br>By this time many of you probably heard that John Dobson, the "father" of the Dobsonian Telescope, passed away in California on Wednesday.<br></div><div><br></div><div>This entry dated 16 Jan 2014, from his official facebook page, sums it up:<br></div><div><br></div><div>"<span>It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that we have to report the passing of Mr John L. Dobson. He died peacefully this morning, January 15th, 2014, in Burbank, California. He was 98. John leaves behind a son, many close friends, and leg<span class="text_exposed_show">ions of friends, fans, and admirers around the globe.<br> <br> ISAN 7 (International Sidewalk Astronomy Night) will be held in honor of John on March 8th. Amateur astronomers worldwide can join in and celebrate his life by carrying the torch that John lit back in 1968 when he co-founded the San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers.<br> <br> John was a friend and mentor to all who met him. He will be dearly missed.</span></span>"<br></div><div><span name="x"></span><div><br></div><div>John was a very interesting character as can be seen in my MNASSA article in the Oct 2010 issue when he turned 95.<br></div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.mnassa.org.za/html/Oct2010/2010MNASSA..69..Oct..170.pdf">www.mnassa.org.za/html/Oct2010/2010MNASSA..69..Oct..170.pdf</a></div><div><br></div><div>Regards<br></div><div>Willie<br></div><div><br></div><div>-- <br> Mr. W.P. Koorts ( wpk@saao.ac.za )<br> South African Astronomical Observatory<br> P.O. Box 9, Observatory, 7935, South Africa<br> Tel.(27) (21) 460 9334 Fax.(27) (21) 447 3639<br> World Wide Web (Work) http://www.saao.ac.za<br> World Wide Web ( Personal ) http://wpk.saao.ac.za</div><span name="x"></span><br></div></div></body></html>