To the list:
It is with deep personal sadness that I write that young list member
Marc Grenville-Cleave, of Dorset UK, has passed away. He was known
personally to several list members.
I did not have the pleasure of meeting him in person but as he was a
longtime friend I wanted to write a brief celebration of his life and
interests.
Most relevant to this list, Marc was an avid DEC collector and PDP-11
enthusiast and rescuer:
http://marc.cleave.me.uk//pdp11/index.htm
He was also the proud owner of a VAX-11/750, among other computers:
http://marc.cleave.me.uk/collection.htm
He was self-taught in many skills, including electronics, and had
natural gifts as an engineer. Around the age of 14 he designed an 8-bit
TTL CPU, which he called "Titan". You can read more here:
http://marc.cleave.me.uk/cpu/ &
https://github.com/bootnecklad/Titan-Specifications
The machine was wire-wrapped and soldered with his trademark meticulous
care, as you can see from the photos on the first site linked.
Here is a picture of Marc with some of his favourite machines (Titan in
the background):
http://i.imgur.com/CCinlCS.jpeg
Many people knew him on irc, as "bootnecklad" or "bnl", in the
#classiccmp Freenode channel and elsewhere. His sense of humour was
unique, sparkling and irreverent.
Aside from his electronics and retrocomputing interests, he restored his
beloved Range Rover Classic over a long period and finally got it
roadworthy in 2016. He was a perfectionist in this project as in
everything else.
Most recently Marc was a Electronic and Computer Engineering student at
the University of Nottingham.
He will be painfully missed by very many people.
--Toby