<P>Dear Karen</P>
<P>A very sad news indeed ! I remember our last meeting in Geneva with Chris : at first I didn't recognise him so I'd to make some efforts in my poor memory, but Chris humoristically helped me. I feel deeply sad and as you, heavy of heart; </P>
<P>He undoubtly will be missing during our future meetings. WSIS-CS has lost one of its real and active friends. So let's maintain his souvenir in our future activities and commitment in the same values as Chris.</P>
<P>Jean-Louis Fullsack</P>
<P>Chair of CSDPTT - France</P>
<P> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #ff0000 2px solid">> Message du 01/09/05 18:59<BR>> De : "karen banks" <KARENB@GN.APC.ORG><BR>> A : plenary@wsis-cs.org<BR>> Copie à : <BR>> Objet : [WSIS CS-Plenary] * APC Tribute to Chris Nicol *<BR>> <BR>> [Please note that by using 'REPLY', your response goes to the entire list. Kindly use individual addresses for responses intended for specific people. Your cooperation is highly appreciated]<BR>> _______________________________________<BR>> <BR>> Dear all on plenary,<BR>> <BR>> With great sadness and heavy of heart, i have to share news that our dear <BR>> sweet friend - chris nicol - died on August 29th after battling with <BR>> cancer for over a year.<BR>> <BR>> Many of you will not have met chris, some of you have, and those that have <BR>> will know that chris was one of the most deeply committed and passionate <BR>> social activists, who dedicated his life to creating a more just and <BR>> equitable world - and the WSIS Process was one where he fought some tough <BR>> battles working towards achieving that goal, with many of us.<BR>> <BR>> Our tribute to chris is below in english, and i will post spanish and <BR>> portuguese versions in the next messages.<BR>> <BR>> If you feel it appropriate, please share this tribute with your own <BR>> caucuses and working groups.<BR>> <BR>> regards to all<BR>> karen banks, on behalf of the APC.<BR>> <BR>> ~~~~~<BR>> <BR>> online tribute and other links: http://www.apc.org/english/index.shtml<BR>> <BR>> 30 August 2005<BR>> <BR>> To all in the APC community and to our many friends and partners:<BR>> <BR>> TRIBUTE TO OUR FRIEND, COUNCIL AND BOARD MEMBER, CHRIS NICOL<BR>> <BR>> On Monday 29 August 2005 the APC network lost someone who was a colleague, <BR>> a leader and a friend.<BR>> <BR>> Chris Nicol, member of the APC council and also of the APC executive board, <BR>> died in Barcelona after more than a year of struggling against cancer. For <BR>> much of the time during this battle Chris was winning, continuing to work, <BR>> travel and network when the difficult cycle of surgery and treatment left <BR>> him with any spare time.<BR>> <BR>> Chris was an Australian who had been living in Barcelona for around 25 <BR>> years. He also spent time in Nicaragua in the period just after the <BR>> Sandinistas overthrew the Somoza dictatorship. Chris worked in the British <BR>> Council in Barcelona for many years, he taught English and set down roots <BR>> in Catalunya in many ways - politically, culturally, socially and through <BR>> his long relationship with his partner Chenchy. Chris was also active in <BR>> the Barcelona solidarity movement with the Zapatistas, organising, raising <BR>> funds, helping out where he could. And he loved music, wine, and nature. <BR>> Chris was deeply committed to justice, to humanity. He was a real activist <BR>> who also threw himself into practical and concrete tasks with energy and <BR>> humour.<BR>> <BR>> Chris became part of the APC community in 1995. His organisation, Pangea, <BR>> was part of an association of Spanish internet activist organisations which <BR>> together applied for APC membership. In 2000 Pangea (www.pangea.org) became <BR>> a member of APC in its own right. Chris was part of Pangea from its first <BR>> days, working sometimes as a volunteer and sometimes as staff, but always <BR>> giving heart and soul to the organisation.<BR>> <BR>> He first attended an APC council meeting in 1997 in South Africa although <BR>> many APC people had already met him by then. Chris was first elected onto <BR>> the APC executive board at the APC council meeting in Uruguay in 2001 and <BR>> at the time of his death he was APC treasurer. He worked tirelessly at a <BR>> recent executive board meeting in South Africa in April even though he had <BR>> only just finished another gruelling round of treatment.<BR>> <BR>> For all of us in APC it is very hard to express how much Chris meant in the <BR>> network. His was always an active voice, supportive and sometimes critical.<BR>> <BR>> He was deeply committed to APC strengthening its advocacy role, to being <BR>> more than a provider of member services. He was one of the first people in <BR>> APC to raise the issue of free software, to start using GNU/Linux on his <BR>> desktop, and to develop projects to support organisations in migrate their <BR>> desktop environments to free and open source software.<BR>> <BR>> Chris made two contributions to APC's work recently which will live on for <BR>> a long time. He was the editor and compiler of "ICT policy: a beginner's <BR>> handbook" (http://www.apc.org/books) which we published in English in late <BR>> 2003 and in Spanish this year. This book will be updated with a new <BR>> version going online on a wiki so that it can remain a living and growing <BR>> testimony to Chris' work. And, earlier this year, he drafted the outline <BR>> of a free software initiative for the APC network which we have been <BR>> building on and which will be presented to APC members later this year.<BR>> <BR>> Chris was a permanently engaged member of the APC team participating in the <BR>> World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) process, from its inception <BR>> in 2002 through to the latest PrepCom in Geneva, February 2005, one of his <BR>> last work related trips. In many ways, he was a compass ­ always pointing <BR>> to those actions that were necessary, just and not always easy - whether it <BR>> was in solidarity around redressing unjust distribution of resources, the <BR>> fierce battles around intellectual property and free software, or insisting <BR>> that the APC team met to communicate and strategise regularly in the hustle <BR>> and bustle of the United Nations conferences.<BR>> <BR>> Every moment was precious to Chris, precious in that he felt one should <BR>> never be wasted - whether the moment was spent drafting, lobbying, meeting, <BR>> demonstrating, or talking with friends and colleagues.<BR>> <BR>> Chris was always there, whenever we needed him, and was a constant reminder <BR>> of our message and vision - to create "a world in which all people have <BR>> easy, equal and affordable access to the creative potential of ICTs to <BR>> improve their lives and create more democratic and egalitarian societies" <BR>> (the APC vision).<BR>> <BR>> All of us in the APC community want to share our love and support of Chris <BR>> with his family and his friends, with Chenchy and with Chris' mother and <BR>> sister in Australia, with his colleagues in Pangea.<BR>> <BR>> APC will not forget Chris and will be honouring and remembering Chris Nicol <BR>> through an initiative that will reflect his passion and committment to <BR>> creating a more socially just world, and inspire others to continue the <BR>> battle to do so.<BR>> <BR>> We will share more news about this initiative shortly, but at this time, we <BR>> warmly welcome all of those who knew or knew of Chris and his life work, to <BR>> share messages on the editable website we have created in his honour.<BR>> <BR>> http://actionapps.org/tikiwiki/tiki-index.php?page=APC+messages+to+Chris+Nicol<BR>> <BR>> Association for Progressive Communications members and staff<BR>> 30 August 2005<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> _______________________________________________<BR>> Plenary mailing list<BR>> Plenary@wsis-cs.org<BR>> http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/plenary<BR>> <BR>> </BLOCKQUOTE>