Mike Austin DLC, FISTC
Mike
Austin, a distinguished technical author and a former vice-president of the
ISTC, passed away in September 2004.
Mike Austin (left) and Cyril Windust (right) at the ISTC Conference 1999
During a career that began as a Spitfire pilot, Mike worked as Publications
and Publicity Officer of HML Engineering, Technical Author with the de Havilland
Engine Company, Peabody Ltd and several technical publications agencies. Mike
was also the author of two books relating to driving instruction and road
safety, one of which received high praise from the Minister of Transport.
Mike also had many articles published on a wide range of subjects.
Within the ISTC, Mike will be best remembered for the ISTC handbook,
which has been popular amongst practitioners and academics for nearly
20 years. To quote a former Council member, Dr John Kirkman, "I doubt
if the Handbook would have come into being if Mike had not set it in motion
and followed through with all the negotiations with publishers".
Mike joined the ISTC Council in May 1975 and attended almost every Council
meeting and AGM until he retired from Council in May 1987 and, in those days,
Council met every two months. On joining Council, Mike immediately took the
role of Press and Public Relations Officer. The next ten years saw the ISTC
represented at many relevant events
and articles published in both trade journals and the national press.
In 1981, Mike suggested investigating whether the ISTC should become a publisher.
By 1985, the first issue of The ISTC Handbook of Technical Writing and
Technical Publication Techniques was published. Only last year, our follow-up
publication, Professional Communication and Information
Design was made available around the world through digital printing.
Also in 1981, Mike began looking into 'competitions for various classes
of technical communication'. The ISTC documentation
awards are still going strong and are presented annually at Conference.
For someone like myself, who spoke to Mike only once, it is obvious from
a quick look at the minutes of Council meetings during his time that he played
during his time that he played an important and active role in most, if not
all, discussions that came before Council. Many of
the projects that he was involved in, including those he initiated, are
still going strong almost 30 years later.
Mike's death will be a great loss to those who knew him personally
and to those of us who know his work and his
reputation. |
