I knew of Michael before I knew Michael. He was some kind of legend, a giant. A Name. I was very prepared to be utterly star-struck by him. Silly me. He was not that kind of person.

My first interaction with him was when I sent in a technical question-more-of-a-comment on the XML specification, about validation. And Michael replied with thoughtfulness and kindness. I felt like I was the little kid pointing out that the Emperor was in some kind of state of undress, and the Emperor said "Why yes, good point. Come into my wardrobe and we'll sort this out." This is how I was somehow drawn into working on markup standards, where I worked with Michael for many years: through all the trials and tribulations of XML Schema, and on to XQuery. And I learned there that my first interaction with him was typical: kind, thoughtful, and inviting.

Michael was a bridge, always: between people, between disciplines, always pulling things together. Calm and kind, even through some of the most difficult days in the XML Schema working group. This was the magic of his talks to close out Balisage: weaving German philosophy with case studies in markup to invite everyone into the circle.

And my last interaction with him was just as the first: a question to us both from a mutual friend, and his reply, as ever, thoughtful, kind, and bridging.

Gosh, I will miss him.

//Mary