[Amforth] Sad News

[Erich W. <ew....@na...>]

Dear AmForthers,


I'm quite certain, that many of you have noticed Matthias'
unusual silence. Since July 2019 he was fighting a serious
health issue. His wife has informed me that Matthias has
left this planet for good on Wednesday evening (2020-03-25).

We wish him an exceptionally pleasant journey!


Matthias has contributed remarkable pieces to the Forth
community. Not only is he the creator of AmForth, which I have
used from an early stage. Not only has he increased the range of
target controllers to msp430, arm, and risc-v. He has always
been keen to make his work conform to the Forth Standard.
Moreover, he has gone even further by advancing the concept of
"recognizers" (originally proposed by Anton Ertl) through
several stages of implementation to a "Commettee supported
proposal", something that has not been seen before. If someone
wants to implement recognizers for her/his Forth, then this is
the interface to be written. The list of articles in the "Vierte
Dimension" dealing with or mentioning AmForth is simply
impressive.

I do feel privileged to have met him im person a few times.



Several weeks ago I had decided to at least try to keep the
website/repository updated, fixing bugs and documentation as
much as I can, and maybe a little more with your help.
Very fortunately I have been granted access to the web site.


I'm willing to take on this task as an expression of my deepest
respect for Matthias' work. I know that he spend countless hours on
AmForth. He has always been willing to listen to my many bug reports
and suggestions --- many more than the ones visible in the mailing
list archive. He had countless ideas to expand the system and keep it
useful for others. He is already sorely missed.



If I (or anyone) can learn anything from this situation: grant access
to your most important (digital) information or files to a trusted
person while you can. You might be unable to do so later.


Despite the sad facts:
Happy Forthing nonetheless! Keep going!
Maybe even get wild occasionally!

Greetings,
Erich


If you would like to express your feelings to his wife, I'm more
than happy to forward anything verbatim, if you send it my way.
If you would like a snail mail address from me, contact me via
ew....@na... ---


--
May the Forth be with you ...