Conrad 1954—2026

I heard on Facebook that Conrad had died. It was from his friend (a stranger to me) Dominic Thackray, who had been relaying news of Conrad’s hospital adventure, after a fall and with cancer. Dominic’s tenderness and good humour (playing up to Conrad’s love of puns) came though the stark words.

In my notes from 1994, and in between the lines, I find the extraordinary generosity of Conrad. Trust him to investigate and find my assets, (juggling!) which I would have doubted. Odd the tantalizing things missing – why was Conrad in Manchester, and no observed detail of Conrad – all I talk about is the joy of driving a Bedford van!

By some contrast Dave Snowden wrote this extraordinary testament to Conrad. He begins: “I learned of Conrad’s death somewhere over the Pacific, en route between Hong Kong and Atlanta. It felt appropriate, somehow, Conrad was always a person you encountered at the edges of things, at the crossroads of movements and technologies and causes, never quite where the mainstream had settled.”

Ideography, this card I found designed by Conrad, describes our joint venture together. It was short lived – I went to India, and the rest is history.

Rachel’s sparse diary entries for 1994
1994 Sunday 7th August: The Kingdom-Ward Tibet/Nepal is off. Like a magnetic attraction removed, I can continue with my trajectory of living, and find space to make plans. Sad to forsake such an adventure with plant collectors. The decision revolved around Bob, although other peripherals, such as money. The bonus is setting up a business with Conrad. Yes that’s all new. Conrad wants an equal partnership with me. I who know so little: we listed my unique assets the other evening as a preliminary to setting this business up – which included having a car and an ability to juggle.

An excellent few days spent with Conrad, packing up his mountain of published work in Manchester as the beginning of the wedge to begin his tax and VAT return. I drove a Bedford van, and loved every minute of it, the pur of diesel, the high seat.

Saturday 20 November 1994
Smoking again. Blar! Driven this time, not by an ’emotional upset’ but erratic nerves at giving a talk. At the age of 36 I have had my first taste of public speaking. Lessons leant= if I did this again, I will talk for 10 minutes if asked to talk for 20. I talked for 30, 20 minutes too long. And only one good joke. It was an introduction to the Internet – the buzz thing at the moment in the UK. “Like Leonardo da Vinci, the Internet, was nurtured by a military establishment, the Department of Defence”. I came away feeling empty, and dissatisfied that all I am good at is talking of the past. Conrad’s presentation on the Web was excellent, and James’ provocative questions at the end woke everyone up. However, it was uplifting to find that as a speaker a small throng of people came up to discuss TCP/IP and JANET with me at the end – yes, I enjoyed that element.

Conrad in Linden gardens, with Robert – are we singing opera Karaoke?

1996 preparing to go to India: Sunday. Conrad’s for breakfast. Discussed PC or Mac for India. He has offered me his portable Mac for £600 – but it needs new hard disk and printer port mending. I have put the case to Gavin, the funder, let us see what he advises.

Was this really the last time I saw him? Facebook of course, kept us alive. Conrad occassionally commented on one of my posts, usually with a humorous pun.

Here’s some words I;m grateful I recorded may be from one such exchange: Conrad 2018

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