I first ran into John around 2004 on the BBC web site 606 (known to its detractors as six slow six). 606 was named after a sports radio program on the BBC that came on at 6:06 PM BST. His pen name was Joker John, and he had a devilish wit, not suffering fools gladly. Our mates found out he supported Tottenham Hotspur, Spurs, and when 606 went off the air, we invited Joker John and others to a new Spurs website, a forum, a big deal back then in terms of technology. Some of this stuff is so old now, I had to look up some terms to write this. Anyway, he had a respectable standing, with over 17,000 posts on the latest version of this forum, starting in 2014, and he was last on in May of 2025. But Facebook came along and John's forum input dwindled.

Casting back to 2007, I had the gall to invite myself and my wife to visit John in Palo Alto, after Kathy's death. Down we went from Cincinnati, and John was a wonderful host, and we had a great time with him.

John's economic reputation preceded him, and my Econometrics Director at Bell Canada knew John from graduate school.

We shall miss John's wit and comradery.