LOSSES TO OUR ‘ FAMILY ’
Since the first issue of INMR ( then called Insulator News & Market Report ) back in September of 1993 , the years have seen the passing of people who played a role in INMR ’ s growth and development . These individuals came from different backgrounds and places but all shared a strong interest – perhaps even passion – for insulators that drew them to INMR and us to them . Now , with this our 100 th issue , we wish to pay tribute to them and to acknowledge their lasting contribution to our field and to the power supply industry in general .
M Zimmerman
Glenn Kellett
Glenn Kellett passed away in late 2001 . As founder of K-Line Insulators in the early 1980s and before that a company specializing in overhead lines , he was not just an entrepreneur but in many respects an insulator pioneer . With his expert knowledge of maintenance , he saw the opportunity to adapt the then still nascent composite insulator technology into more functional designs that met changing needs in the Canadian utility industry and later among customers worldwide .
I was introduced to Glenn in 1993 , when INMR published the first of several articles about his firm . He was warm-hearted , modest in his accomplishments , generous with his smile and deeply devoted to the business he had brought onto the world stage .
Claude de Tourreil
Claude de Tourreil , who died in early 2006 , was among the insulator industry ’ s most beloved – even if occasionally crusty – personalities . I have often commented on how we first met , in 1990 , when he was already one of the most recognized experts on composite insulators , working at Hydro-Québec ’ s IREQ research facility and I – at least as far as insulators were concerned – was pretty much nothing .
Yet Claude was still willing and patient enough to share from his deep fount of knowledge . In so doing , he helped usher me into this industry as both a mentor and later also as a colleague who accompanied
me on site visits within France , Morocco and Spain . He also opened my eyes to the possibilities arising from new technologies that made me pay particular attention to the growing application of composite insulators during the early years of INMR .
Claude was a tireless worker who volunteered generously from his personal time to head and sit on industry working groups . But he was also a gadfly who was not afraid to take on anyone – not even the IEC – for what he regarded as too much bureaucracy delaying the publishing of much needed new standards .
Claude was a longtime contributor to INMR with his wonderful and provocative columns and also attended our WORLD CONGRESSES as a speaker , starting in 1997 and up until the event in Hong Kong in late 2005 , only months before his death .
The evolution of technology in any field is often influenced by a few extraordinary people who are not only visionaries but who are also willing to devote their lives to selflessly advance the science . Claude was such a person , donating generously from his vast knowledge with little regard for whatever fame might come with it .
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