Jon Reed of Diginomica called this morning with some shocking news. Kurt Marko passed away - he describes what we know so far here. As we were talking, it struck me the lengths Jon had gone to find out about a colleague across the country, including getting local police to go visit his family.
It brought back memories of countless messages of concern I had received when I had my health hiccup a decade ago. We may argue like crazy but we have made some really strong bonds via social media.
Jeff Nolan said nicely in his tweet “His wit was just as sharp as his analytical brain, perhaps only overshadowed by his independent spirit.” I can vouch for Kurt's independence - we had many spirited conversations (most unrecorded) on a variety of STEM topics.
As was common with Kurt, he did not say what was politically expedient. As a Stanford electrical engineer, he could and would speak with a lot more authority than so many who claim to be “science based” in their opinions. You can see that on this Burning Platform episode on energy trends we recorded during the COP 26 Climate Change summit in Glasgow. There I mentioned “Kurt has the uncanny knack for demystifying complex technical topics."
My one regret – I never met him in person. We had arranged to meet in his hometown in Idaho on one of my trips and I had to cancel that trip at the last minute.
Somebody asked me a while ago if I missed anything about not working for a large company. I said “Christmas parties”. I then told this person “I hope we can convene once travel opens up, a holiday party for folks who mostly meet over social media and don’t have a corporate event to celebrate”
Over New Year’s Eve, Kurt had shared with a few of us the wine from the Loire Valley he was planning to open that evening. Kurt, when I do convene that Christmas Party, I promise we will have a bottle of that and raise a toast to you.
Cheers, my friend.
