Vale Ivan Noble, 1967-2005
The blogging community mourns the passing on 31 January 2005 of Ivan Noble, a BBC journalist who shared his experiences with cancer on his blog for the past two years.
Noble, who was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour in August 2002, was 37 years old.
The science and technology writer became well known world wide through his segments on the BBC, which were re-broadcast through a number of other stations, including America’s NPR and Australia’s News Radio.
In his attempts to beat the tumour, Noble had three brain operations, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. But his tumour began to grow again and he was admitted to a London hospital in December. In his last blog entry, Noble wrote “I really wanted to make something good out of bad. I was not sure if what I wrote would be any good and I was not sure if anyone would read it but I wanted to try. I also very much wanted to use the diary to maintain my link with my job if I was not well enough to work.”
Noble first started working with the BBC in the early 1990s as a translator before becoming a sub-editor in Nairobi, Kenya. He eventually settled into a job in the science and technology section of the BBC News Web site. In his final entry, Noble thanked his friends and colleagues at the BBC and made a plea to his readers. Noble wrote “I will end with a plea. I still have no idea why I ended up with a cancer, but plenty of other cancer patients know what made them ill. If two or three people stop smoking as a result of anything I have ever written then the one of them who would have got cancer will live and all my scribbling will have been worthwhile.” Ivan Noble leaves behind a wife and two children.
RIP Ivan Noble. Our deepest respects to your family and friends on behalf of the world wide blogging community. In blogging your experiences you shall for ever be remembered.
(ref: Techworthy)