From: David Prosser <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2014 13:35:23 +0100

I have been tasked with a very sad commission.  Neither Alma or Paul
are subscribers to Liblicesne and so they have asked me to post the
message below.  Fred was a gentle man and a compelling open access
advocate.  We will miss him and our thoughts are with his family - who
I know he cherished greatly.

David

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A message from Alma Swan ([log in to unmask]) and Paul Ayris ([log in to unmask]):

Friends,

It is with great sadness that we have to tell you of the death last
week of Fred Friend.

Fred was one of the staunchest supporters of Open Access and worked to
further its aims for almost two decades. Early in that period he was,
of course, Librarian at University College London, a position that
gave him influence and the means to push arguments for openness that
were at the time new and considered rather heretical. After retirement
from that post Fred served for many years as a consultant to JISC,
advising and carrying out research work for JISC on scholarly
communications. He was in his element in this role as it gave him the
opportunities he needed to continue making the arguments for Open
Access and to develop practical initiatives that helped to advance the
cause. Latterly, Fred pursued his aims through continuing consultancy
jobs and indeed at the time of his death he was embarking on an
ambitious analysis of OA policies.

We have lost a very good friend of Open Access and a great
humanitarian. For many there will also be the feeling of losing a kind
and loyal personal friend.

His daughter, Cate, said to us, “It means so much to hear about his
professional life - he was so private and so humble that he never
really talked about what he did (I used to joke with him and tell him
that I told everyone that he was a spy!).” We would like the OA
community -- Fred’s friends -- to let Cate and the rest of Fred’s
family know about the work Fred did and the great colleague that he
was, so we are going to collect tributes to Fred and his work and will
put these together into a book for his family.

If you have something to say, please email your words to one of us,
including your job title where relevant to give some context to your
comments for the family. Thank you in advance for your contributions.

For those who can attend the funeral, the ceremony will be held at
12.30pm on Thursday 1st May at St Michael and All Angels, Hughenden,
near High Wycombe in the UK. The family will welcome anyone who can be
with them on that occasion.