I first encountered Michael in the early 1990s when I was looking to use the TEI for the CELT project. Over three decades he was a stalwart leader, guide, reference, and mentor to so many markup and related activities.

We met frequently at conferences throughout the years, and he was unfailingly interested, innovative, and inquisitive about everything, in his public presentations and publications as well as on mailing lists. He was a polymath, but never above asking for help from others.

He was equally good company in more informal settings, and over a drink or two in those conference after-hours. He never talked down to anyone, although his command of words allowed him to phrase many a polite "I wouldn't do it that way if I were you" to steer people back onto the straight and narrow.

We shall all miss him, and the world of markup is smaller for his passing. I shall raise a glass of my best whiskey in his honour, a man who made a real difference to the world we live in.

Peter Flynn