SAD NEWS

Our dear friend and one of the main organizers of the HOPE conferences, Greg Newby, has passed away after a seven-month battle with pancreatic cancer. Greg had been involved with HOPE since 2000 and helped make the conference grow and get past some phenomenal challenges. He also was an everpresent figure at the events, often serving as stage manager while decked out in anything from a zoot suit to a graduation gown. He was the one who found our new location at St. John's University, right when it seemed like there was no way we could continue after the closure of the Hotel Pennsylvania. He designed 2600's digital delivery system and helped find a way around Amazon's domination of material for Kindles and other readers. In short, Greg never shied away from a challenge - and he never gave up.

In addition, Greg was an expert in supercomputing who was in demand all over the world, from Canada to Saudi Arabia to all parts of the United States. We were far from the only ones who recognized his genius. He also devoted a great deal of time to the development of Project Gutenberg, the world's oldest digital library. And, of course, he had a particular passion for raising and training sled dogs in the far north. There are so many amazing people in our community. Greg was truly one of them and we are honored to have been a part of his world, albeit for far too brief a time.

His loved ones request that donations to Project Gutenberg be made in Greg's honor. We will never forget him.