Goodbye Bill;Watershed;Obituary

ONE of the pioneers of educational technology in the UK, Bill Tagg, died on February 2, aged 69, after a short illness. True to form, Bill effectively wrote his own obituary. We reproduce here the email that Bill circulated to friends and colleagues. Anyone wishing to contact his family can do it via this website: www.taggoram.co.uk Blast from the past: Chris Thatcher, back right, oversees a class in 1978 I am emailing you with some rather bad news I'm afraid. I became unwell before Christmas (unexpectedly, as I have always been blessed with very good health) and have been told that I have cancer of the liver. I saw the consultant for the second time yesterday and he has confirmed what we already knew, that I only have months to live.

For me, now I am over the shock, it is nowhere near as bad as I would have imagined and I have spent a good deal of time during the last month sitting in front of my computer finishing off my commitments and forgetting about me.

I am sending this message to many different people so please excuse its rather impersonal nature. In particular, I have been in touch with a number of you during the last month and have told you nothing about this. This was because I did not want the news to leak out; I wanted to see what the consultant had to say and it did not seem a good idea to talk about such gloomy topics during the Christmas festivities. Now you should feel free to tell anyone who might want to know.

I have had a very good life personally and academically. It has been the best time to be alive as far as ICT is concerned and very interesting to watch education attitudes change, from regarding anyone who believes in computers as part of the lunatic fringe to one of grudging respectability.

For me, I have to thank you all for providing me with the opportunity to share my prejudices with you and for taking part in so many debates - formal and informal.

I wish you all well. I am making arrangements for you to know when I finally go off-line. Bill