Vesey Norman We are saddened to have to announce the death of this notable scholar on antique arms and armour, and who was held in high regard by all who knew him (and enjoyed his wicked sense of humour). He died in July, aged 68. Mr Norman's career included being Master of the Armouries, HM Tower of London, and publishing books such as English Weapons and Warfare, 449-1660 (with Don Pottinger), Small Swords and Military Swords, The Medieval Soldier and The Rapier and the Small-Sword, 1460-1820. Known as 'Nick' to his friends, he was a special person and will be missed. Alastair Simpson Many will be saddened to hear of the death of Alastair Simpson, of Airlife Publishing, after a brave but brief fight against cancer. He was just fifty years old. Alastair Simpson was born into a printing family. He was destined to take over the family business but fell in love with publishing. An amateur flyer, he published his first book on flying in 1976. His passion for flying and avaition books led him to form his own publishing company, Airlife. Under his direction, Airlife went on to become one of the most successful aviation publishers in recent years. His second passion was for wildlife and natural history. In the late eighties he set up the imprint Swan Hill and under this imprint published some wonderful books by some of Britain's more noted wildlife artists. An obituary in The Bookseller said "Alastair Simpson was the last of a dying breed, the "gentleman publisher". For him the Frankfurt Book Fair and the ABA were pure adrenaline and he will be sadly missed at both these events." This sad news does not affect the future of Airlife, a very solid and successful business. Back to Greenhill Military Book News No. 85 Table of Contents Back to Greenhill Military Book News List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1998 by Greenhill Books This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com