Received this very sad news a few minutes ago, from Don's brother Dave <davecolb...@gmail.com> :
---------------------------------------------
My dear brother Don died this morning.
Don and Chas (his older brother) had been working together last night, and Don went to bed feeling a bit weak just after midnight. He woke up around 4:30 this morning and called out to Chas who was sleeping on Don's couch. He told Chas that he felt he'd just had a heart attack. Chas called the ambulance and they got Don to the hospital. While there, he was his normal self, keeping track of the meds and telling the staff what each med was for and when they had last given it to him. While undergoing a cardio-cath procedure to diagnose and repair damage to his heart, his heart failed.
The miracles of modern science couldn't restore the damage that had been done to his heart and Don made his transition. His is dearly missed by all who know him.
We would like to gather at Unity of Fairfax (2854 Hunter Mill Road, Oakton, VA) this Sunday, the 4th of October at 6:00pm for a Memorial Service to celebrate Don's life. Please bring stories of Don, be they Toasts, Boasts, or Roasts, that you feel will help us paint a full and vibrant portrait of the man who meant so much to so many people (knowing Don, the Roasts are likely to be the one's he'd like the most).
Please RSVP to this email address so that we can get a rough estimate of how many people will attend.
If you are unable to attend and would like to relay a favorite story of Don, please respond to me at this email address and I'll be sure it is presented at the service. If you have pictures of Don that you'd like to share (yes, even those you may have been saving as blackmail material), send them to me at this email address.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Please, if you know of anyone who I may have missed on this email, forward it to them.
Dave -- ================================================== Elizabeth D. Rather (US & Canada) 800-55-FORTH FORTH Inc. +1 310.999.6784 5959 West Century Blvd. Suite 700 Los Angeles, CA 90045 http://www.forth.com
"Forth-based products and Services for real-time applications since 1973." ==================================================
Elizabeth D Rather wrote: > Received this very sad news a few minutes ago, from Don's brother Dave > <davecolb...@gmail.com> :
> ---------------------------------------------
> My dear brother Don died this morning.
I am astonished that there has been no reaction to this (at least, here). Don was one of the original implementors of FigForth, and most widely known as the developer of MacForth and President of Creative Solutions, which developed and sold MacForth until the mid-90's. He was also a key member of the ANS Forth Technical Committee (1986-1994).
Those of us who knew him loved him for his brilliant mind, sparkling wit, inventiveness, and courage.
No cheers here today, Elizabeth
-- ================================================== Elizabeth D. Rather (US & Canada) 800-55-FORTH FORTH Inc. +1 310.999.6784 5959 West Century Blvd. Suite 700 Los Angeles, CA 90045 http://www.forth.com
"Forth-based products and Services for real-time applications since 1973." ==================================================
I didn't know Don personally, but I certainly was very familiar with his MacForth product starting in 1985 (the original blocks-files-only version of MacForth). His work was impressive. At the time it was the only turnkey development system available for the Mac on the Mac. I also recall the often amusing yet informative documentation. I think I still have it here somewhere. My thoughts and prayers go to his family.
On Oct 1, 2:30 pm, Elizabeth D Rather <erat...@forth.com> wrote:
> I am astonished that there has been no reaction to this (at least, here).
I think this has been not unexpected, but still a big shock.
I can't say I knew Don personally, but I had met him and I was aware of the reasons he had withdrawn from active participation in the efforts he had become so well known for. It saddened me to learn about his illness at the time, and it saddens me now to know that those closest to him are feeling a great loss. Yet, in that sadness, I can't help but feel relief that his struggle is over. Having witnessed my own father pass after 25 years of Parkinson's, I can only imagine the feelings of those involved with multiple sclerosis. Yet, at the end, I did get to see the end of my father's struggle, and I do believe Don's struggle has also ended. So, I hope I do not offend, if I say thank God! I am very grateful for the time he had.
My deepest condolences go out to his friends and family.
Dennis Ruffer wrote: > On Oct 1, 2:30 pm, Elizabeth D Rather <erat...@forth.com> wrote: >> I am astonished that there has been no reaction to this (at least, here).
> I think this has been not unexpected, but still a big shock.
> I can't say I knew Don personally, but I had met him and I was aware > of the reasons he had withdrawn from active participation in the > efforts he had become so well known for. It saddened me to learn > about his illness at the time, and it saddens me now to know that > those closest to him are feeling a great loss. Yet, in that sadness, > I can't help but feel relief that his struggle is over. Having > witnessed my own father pass after 25 years of Parkinson's, I can only > imagine the feelings of those involved with multiple sclerosis. Yet, > at the end, I did get to see the end of my father's struggle, and I do > believe Don's struggle has also ended. So, I hope I do not offend, if > I say thank God! I am very grateful for the time he had.
> My deepest condolences go out to his friends and family.
I understand what you mean, Dennis. My mother died of cancer and at the end could *not* find a drug strong enough to relieve her pain. :-(
It's just very sad when a person's best option is to die...
-- +----------------------------------------+ | Charles and Francis Richmond | | | | plano dot net at aquaporin4 dot com | +----------------------------------------+
The first language publicly available to program the original 128K Mac was MacForth. [http://www.macforth.com/], from CSI (Creative Solutions, Inc) in Rockville MD. (Mac development was then done on a Lisa.) MacForth was introduced in 2/84, before even the ring binder version of Inside Mac was available. (The one before the phonebook edition.) I wish I could remember the name of the implementor (great at forth, great as a hardware designer) to give him credit. CSI was sold some time ago, and moved to Western MD. I don't see them on the Web now, but may just have not looked hard enough.
JimRussell:
From the MacForth Plus Manual: MacForth was created by Don Colburn and Dave Colburn.
FelixFranz:
Yes! Don Colburn was the name I couldn't recall. Very sharp guy.
> The first language publicly available to program the original 128K Mac > was MacForth. [http://www.macforth.com/], from CSI (Creative > Solutions, Inc) in Rockville MD. (Mac development was then done on a > Lisa.) MacForth was introduced in 2/84, before even the ring binder > version of Inside Mac was available. (The one before the phonebook > edition.) I wish I could remember the name of the implementor (great > at forth, great as a hardware designer) to give him credit. CSI was > sold some time ago, and moved to Western MD. I don't see them on the > Web now, but may just have not looked hard enough.
> JimRussell:
> From the MacForth Plus Manual: MacForth was created by Don Colburn and > Dave Colburn.
> FelixFranz:
> Yes! Don Colburn was the name I couldn't recall. Very sharp guy.
Dennis Ruffer wrote: > On Oct 1, 2:30 pm, Elizabeth D Rather <erat...@forth.com> wrote: >> I am astonished that there has been no reaction to this (at least, here).
> I think this has been not unexpected, but still a big shock.
> I can't say I knew Don personally, but I had met him and I was aware > of the reasons he had withdrawn from active participation in the > efforts he had become so well known for. It saddened me to learn > about his illness at the time, and it saddens me now to know that > those closest to him are feeling a great loss. Yet, in that sadness, > I can't help but feel relief that his struggle is over. Having > witnessed my own father pass after 25 years of Parkinson's, I can only > imagine the feelings of those involved with multiple sclerosis. Yet, > at the end, I did get to see the end of my father's struggle, and I do > believe Don's struggle has also ended. So, I hope I do not offend, if > I say thank God! I am very grateful for the time he had.
> My deepest condolences go out to his friends and family.
> DaR
I last saw Don in 1999, at the abortive attempt to restart an ANSI review (aborted because the governing body raised participation fees by a ludicrous amount). In a private conversation, he said he could endure the physical inconvenience, but really dreaded losing his mental faculties, should that happen (what MS damages is highly random).
I had an email exchange with him just a few months ago, in which he reported, "I have recently started up a new company, "3D Metal Parts, Inc." that repurposes 6-axis industrial robots with a plasma torch for flexible just in time manufacturing of 3d metal parts." He sent a picture of a huge robot in his living room, and according to Dave's message, was working on it the night before he died.
So, I'm grateful that he was spared that greatest fear.
Elizabeth
-- ================================================== Elizabeth D. Rather (US & Canada) 800-55-FORTH FORTH Inc. +1 310.999.6784 5959 West Century Blvd. Suite 700 Los Angeles, CA 90045 http://www.forth.com
"Forth-based products and Services for real-time applications since 1973." ==================================================
I didn't know him either, but send condolences. Last evening I used MacPorts to port Gforth 0.7.0 to my Mac Mini (Snow Leopard). The port and Gforth both worked really well.
LW
On Oct 1, 4:48 pm, Doug Hoffman <dhoff...@talkamerica.net> wrote:
> I didn't know Don personally, but I certainly was very familiar with > his MacForth product starting in 1985 (the original blocks-files-only > version of MacForth).
On Oct 5, 7:12 am, Leo Wong <mary....@gmail.com> wrote:
> I didn't know him either, but send condolences. Last evening I used > MacPorts to port Gforth 0.7.0 to my Mac Mini (Snow Leopard). The port > and Gforth both worked really well.
Carbon MacForth also runs just fine on Snow Leopard under Rosetta. I know this from QuickEdit user reports. QE is my programmer's text editor written in CMF.
Last I heard from Ward there is a plan to migrate CMF to Intel native for the Macintosh. I have no idea of the timing or status.
On Sep 30, 5:22 pm, Elizabeth D Rather <erat...@forth.com> wrote:
> Received this very sad news a few minutes ago, from Don's brother Dave > <davecolb...@gmail.com> :
> ---------------------------------------------
> My dear brother Don died this morning.
It is with sorrow one hears of Don's passing, I was hoping to see him again sometime, but time has passed too quickly. I didn't know Don well, and had not seen him for many years. He was bright, articulate, and very intelligent.
My condolences to all who knew him well....
----------------------------------------- John K. Stevenson, Inventor, 602-206-4174
In article <27SdnbeTyuX_a17XnZ2dnUVZ_rKdn...@supernews.com>, Elizabeth D Rather <erat...@forth.com> wrote:
>Received this very sad news a few minutes ago, from Don's brother Dave ><davecolb...@gmail.com> :
>---------------------------------------------
>My dear brother Don died this morning.
<SNIP>
>Please, if you know of anyone who I may have missed on this email, >forward it to them.
>Dave
From the members of the Dutch FIG chapter Hans Nieuwenhuijzen knew Don Colburn personally. He has asked me to forward a message on his behalf:
" I was touched to receive this announcement, and I remember Don with gratitude. He was amiable and very gifted, and if I remember well, he was a point of stability in the Forth group. Let us wish his brother Dave and family strength for the coming time.
Hans Nieuwenhuijzen "
The Dutch FIG chapter sends condoleances to his family.
The Forth community looses one of its most productive members. Let the extent of his legacy be a consolation. He will be remembered.
Groetjes Albert
-- -- Albert van der Horst, UTRECHT,THE NETHERLANDS Economic growth -- being exponential -- ultimately falters. albert@spe&ar&c.xs4all.nl &=n http://home.hccnet.nl/a.w.m.van.der.horst
On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:22:57 -1000, Elizabeth D Rather
<erat...@forth.com> wrote: >My dear brother Don died this morning.
I only met Don a few times face to face, mostly during ANS meetings. He impressed me, both for his fortitude and cheer in dealing with his illness, and with his clarity of thought.
It's worth noting that Don and his team introduced many facilities into Forth 20 years ago that are only now becoming common or standard practice. We owe him thanks.
Stephen
-- Stephen Pelc, stephen...@mpeforth.com MicroProcessor Engineering Ltd - More Real, Less Time 133 Hill Lane, Southampton SO15 5AF, England tel: +44 (0)23 8063 1441, fax: +44 (0)23 8033 9691 web: http://www.mpeforth.com - free VFX Forth downloads
