It is with deep sadness that we report the passing of Colin Hamilton at 12.30pm on 14th January in the Rockhampton Hospital.

Colin has been a significant contributor to the work of the Australian Orchid Council for many years and was the person responsible for starting the AOC website. His enthusiasm for all things pertaining to orchids was infectious. He gathered into the fold many orchid lovers from around Australia and overseas to contribute to the website.

Colin was a very active Editor/ Publications Director of the AOC’s publication Orchids Australia. He worked tirelessly on the layout and sought assistance with the production of the magazine. Colin was eager to source overseas contributions: he built up quite a team from which he could draw each issue. We kept in regular contact by phone and by email. I believe that we were a sounding board for each other at times.

I am proud to count Colin as a friend, albeit at a distance. We met on many occasions, usually at conferences and at AOC meetings. If there was ever anything to be placed in the magazine, Colin was keen to add it, and after he ceased his role as Editor/Publications Director, it was decided that the role should be split between two people. A testimony to the amount of work that the two jobs entailed!

His initiative saw the start of the AOC website – at a time when websites were not the ‘in thing’, but he saw the extent to which the site could be used for the advancement of the work of the AOC and particularly the awards which the judging panels grant. The establishment of the website was not a foregone conclusion; there were those at the time who could not see the value of such a venture, especially the costs incurred. It was Colin who established the connection to allow the AOC to receive a small financial return from each ‘hit’

Colin was one of the proudest people I have known when I advised him that the AOC Website had received the Gold Medal at the World Orchid Conference in Dijon, France in 2005. Unfortunately Colin was not able to attend that conference and I had the honour of accepting the ‘trophy’ on his behalf at the closing ceremony. The prize, a boxed, engraved bottle of quality French white wine was duly opened at the subsequent AOC Annual General Meeting in Melbourne and Colin had the honour of serving it to the gathered AOC executive and delegates.

Time and space do not permit a complete obituary at this time; however, we will endeavour to print contributions from a number of people in the April issue of the magazine.

Colin was an original contributor to the first issue of Orchids Australia and continued to provide valuable contributions to the magazine until his untimely hospitalization. He was, alas, not to enjoy his retirement from the CSIRO in Rockhampton. Colin had a very serious fall at his home in Rockhampton soon after retiring and this resulted in him having a lengthy stay in hospital, only to be returned there after several other accidents. His most recent hospital stay, which commenced at the beginning of December 2007, was to be his last. He died peacefully in hospital.

Colin was granted the honour of Fellow of the Australian Orchid Council for his contribution to the work of the Australian Orchid Council soon after relinquishing the dual roles. Not only was Colin an excellent organiser, he was, until his illnesses, an active AOC judge.

Colin will be sadly missed by so many. Our condolences are extended to his family. .