Sunday, March 16, 2008

D·M·S· Allen Ross Scaife 1960-2008

On Saturday afternoon, March 15th, I learned that my friend Ross had died that morning after a long and hard-fought struggle with cancer. He was at his home in Lexington, Kentucky, surrounded by his family.

Ross was one of the giants of the Digital Classics community. He was the guiding force behind the Stoa, and the founder of many of its projects. Ross was always generous with his time and resources and has been responsible for incubating many fledgling Digital Humanities initiatives. His loss leaves a gap that will be impossible to fill.

Ross was also a good friend, easy to talk to, and always ready to encourage me to experiment with new ideas. I miss him very much.

What he began will continue without him, and though we cannot ever replace Ross, we can honour his memory by carrying on his good work.

update (March 21, 21:04)

Dot posted a lovely obituary of Ross at the Stoa. Tom and several others have posted nice memorials as well.

On a happier note: my daughter, Caroline Emma Ross Cayless was born at 11:52 pm, March 19th.