It is with sadness that we announce the death of our Founder Publisher, Raymond Beaumont. Ray was an inspirational doyen of the technical press in South Africa. Leaving the safety of an academic career in 1973, he and his partner, Tom Beattie, independently founded Pulse Publications. A true entrepreneur, Ray's vision for a magazine which would do justice to the budding local electronics industry, combined with his unbounded energy and professionalism, proved very successful. In the 1970s and early '80s, his journal, Pulse, became number one in electronics engineering publishing.

After selling his company, Ray worked for a while with the Communications Group, heading up their Technical Press division. During this time he initiated and edited Dataweek. Always happier working independently, however, he elected in 1985 to buy Dataweek and house it in his own new company, Technews. Again, Ray's entrepreneurial qualities shone through, and by the middle of the 1980s, Dataweek had become the dominant electronics journal in South Africa. The key lay in his keen appreciation of the need to marry technical reliability with the needs of the market. But it also lay in his unwavering belief in the need to conduct business ethically. Ray went on to found a host of other award-winning magazines, including SA Instrumentation & Control, CG and Hi-Tech Security Solutions, all of which still constitute the core of the Technews stable. Some four years ago Ray retired, a step which was not at all easy for him to take! His work, however, was not yet over, and he continued - quietly - to play a valuable mentoring role in this proudly independent, family-owned business.

We miss Ray. His legacy, however, will live on. There is no doubt that he played a vital role in the history of trade and technical publishing in South Africa. And there is no doubt that the compass he bequeathed to Technews will continue to lead us in the right direction as we embrace the challenges of a rapidly changing publishing environment. We salute you Ray, our founder and our mentor, even in your death.

The Publisher