Dear Evolutionists, With the greatest possible sadness, I am writing to tell you that we have just lost one of the greatest minds ever to consider the subject of biological evolution.* John Maynard Smith passed away yesterday at home, while sitting in his chair. John had just finished his latest book (on animal communication, with David Harper) and has recently been working on various theoretical and empirical problems, particularly in bacterial population genetics. He had also started work on a new edition of his book on the Major Transitions in Evolution (with Eors Szathmary).* He was thinking, working, and helping his colleagues until the very end. He was not totally comfortable in the last months of his life (mostly due to breathing difficulties) but he was not suffering very badly either. Professor Maynard Smith is survived by his wife, Sheila, and his three children, Anthony, Carol and Julian. Yours, Joel Joel R. Peck Reader in Evolutionary Biology Centre for the Study of Evolution School of Life Sciences University of Sussex Brighton* BN1 9QG Phone:* (01273) 678843 Phone: (from outside the UK)* 441273678843 Email:* j.r.peck@sussex.ac.uk
