Add a Memory
Send Flowers
Make a Donation
Gordon EDGE Obituary
This obituary was originally published in the Cambridge News.
29 Entries
Your special table 7
Velio Luigi's
July 14, 2015
Velio Lattuneddu
July 14, 2015
Arrivederci my friend Gordon
Velio Lattuneddu
July 14, 2015
Ciao Gordon hopefully you are having veal cordon bleu and a bottle of chianti with Luigi now.
You were a true gentleman love Velio
John Targell
February 5, 2014
Thank you Gordon - wwe all owe you a great deal!
How you can show support
Send flowers
Consider sending flowers.
Add photos
Share their life with photo memories.
Plant trees
Honor them by planting trees in their memory.
Follow this page
Get email updates whenever changes are made.
Donate in Memory
Make a donation in memory of your loved one.
Share this page
Invite other friends and family to visit the page.
Peter Hyde
November 1, 2013
Dear Gordon
I first became aware of you in the late 1960s in, I think, a New Scientist article. This pictured you holding some device to measure the vibrations of a fly's wing. Interesting, but what really caught my attention was your description of how the fledgling CCL actually worked – intellectual challenge in a multi-disciplinary environment, low hierarchy, and focus on business success. There was also a free canteen, I think...
At the time, I was working for a physics division of ICI, doing fascinating work in a very narrow, field, but totally disconnected as far as I could see from any discernible commercial outcome for the company. I was desperate to to broaden my horizons and to be in an environment where the results of my work would actually count. So, when I saw that you had moved on and started Patscentre, I applied. When we first met at interview I described my ideas for a roadside supercomputer to prevent car accidents in fog. It was of course completely impractical, but it seemed to get me the job.
On my first day at Patscentre I was received enthusiastically as the only person who understood Fast Fourier Transforms – the previous day, you had sold a major project to develop a new digital airborne radar. Being part of the team that designed that system was a revelation – bright people working together under huge pressure against tight deadlines, and coming up with creative ideas which the client company would never have done alone.
It was brilliant, and under your visionary leadership we did this again and again, in fields ranging from mobile phones to electrophoretic displays to DNA amplification. The hundreds of people you inspired have achieved things which in their wildest dreams they never thought possible. They in turn have carried the original idea forward, and the like-minded companies, not just in Cambridge, but in many other parts of the world are a fitting testament to you.
We all owe you a massive debt. Thank you. It has also been great fun.
Peter
Jeremy Klein
October 29, 2013
When Gordon retired from Scientific Generics in August 2002, Peter Hyde held a surprise retirement party at his home. I was asked to give a speech on behalf of the staff. I kept the speech and am reprinting it here because I think it captures the spirit of Gordon as we knew him in Scientific Generics. Then, like now, I wanted to celebrate Gordon's contribution.
I hope that sharing this speech will bring back good memories for all who read it, even if you weren't in Scientific Generics. For me it illustrates the affection we had for Gordon.
"All of us have spent some, or even much, of our working lives in organisations led by Gordon. Though some of us have moved on, I think we all recognise that Gordon's organisations are unique and that we have personally had experiences which we wouldn't have got anywhere else. It is worth spending a few minutes to reflect on Gordon and his organisations.
When I joined Generics in April 1988, Gordon was off on a week long selling trip to Japan. Not having been at PA, I'd never met Gordon, but people kept talking about him. For a start, every bit of correspondence that came in or out of Generics had to be copied to him personally. “Gordon likes to know what is going on”, I was told. Then, whenever I questioned why anything was done in a particular way, the answer always began “Because Gordon …” For example. “Why do we not have a canteen?” “Because Gordon doesn't eat lunch”. The exception to Gordon's influence was the coffee, which was colloquially referred to as “sludge”, the choice of which was attributed to Chris Coggill.
Over my first week, I tried to put together a picture of what this Gordon would be like. He was a fantastic salesman, everyone said, so he was bound to be an extrovert. I somehow also thought he'd be a large imposing person. As a creative scientist I expected him to be eccentric looking. The Friday when he was supposed to be coming back from Japan I looked at the people coming through the doors, trying to spot which was Gordon. One likely candidate appeared who looked possible. It turned out to be Lawrence Robinson.
In fact, of course, I was surprised when Gordon was pointed out to me. He looked a rather conventional figure. Plain dark suit. White shirt. Serious face, quietly spoken. Not at all what I had expected. No obvious charisma.
My first interaction with Gordon, and when I got to see his charisma, was at a sales pitch. He started to describe Generics and mentioned that the company now had 86 staff. I'd only seen 25 names on the phone list, so later on I asked Pauline where the other 61 worked. (Maybe in Japan?) “Oh”, she said, “There aren't really 86. It's just that we have an official size and an actual size. The official size is the one you tell to people outside. It gets updated every week, so check with me first. It would really confuse things if you let slip the actual size.” Years later, a university academic did half her PhD on Generics. She spotted that the thing about Generics was its “high level of ambiguity”. I think that this must be an example of what she meant.
It was at this meeting that I was first introduced to Gordon's graph. There's skill intensity along one axis and value added along the other. Gordon draws it freehand and spontaneously plots lines, points and arrows. This one graph gets adapted by Gordon to address any client's situation head on. It always seems to persuade people, though I'm not sure how many really understand it. Come to think of it, I'm not sure how much I understand it.
Many people see Gordon as a technological inventor. It is true that his abilities are exceptional. It's quite rare to be inventive in your own field. It's rarer to be inventive beyond middle age. It's remarkable to be inventive into your 50s and 60s in every scientific field from electronics to biotechnology. Gordon's imagination is legendary. He once sold a project to develop a handheld NMR scanner. Well, that was a long shot, but at the time, NMRs were the size of rooms. No one else would have dreamed of such a thing. It took reality a long while to catch up.
Gordon's inventiveness extends to organisations themselves. When you are in Generics you tend to take it for granted – at least, until recently! But Generics itself was a bold inventive step. To even conceive of an organisation doing the diverse things that Generics does under one roof is a feat of imagination. Gordon recognises better than most how the makeup of an organisation affects the way it behaves. Gordon's preoccupation is with innovative organisations much more than innovation per se.
Gordon can be a difficult person to work with – especially if you are schooled in the ways of “normal” organisations. I remember Kirsten once organising a sales meeting with a very important German company. So important that it was planned weeks in advance. We even had a pre-meeting. (In Generics, getting people to turn up for meetings on time is hard enough, but pre-meetings, …)
Anyway, Gordon was supposed to come in for the first five minutes to say hello, and then leave us to the precision-timed meeting. That was the plan. In fact, Gordon stayed for an hour and a half. During which time he told the company that they had completely the wrong strategy. He also told Kirsten that she had the wrong strategy. He completely reorganised the meeting. Lab visits, different people coming in. You name it, he changed it. Sensing that it would be difficult to pick up the pieces, he left with a smile and muttered under his breath “I'd better go and disrupt another meeting now”.
Gordon, it seems to me, has the capacity to turn things on their heads. I have never seen him take accepted wisdom at face value. I suspect that this is because whereas most people see things as they are, with a faint glimmer of how they could be, for Gordon it's the other way around. He sees possibilities, endless possibilities, unconstrained by anything very much. Perhaps that's why he's such an optimist.
I was looking at a book on organisation theory the other day. There's a graph that gets in all the textbooks, purporting to show the life-stages of an organisation as it grows. You know the sort of thing. In the text, it said “It often takes a crisis to convince the entrepreneur that professional management is required”. That's the accepted wisdom. Gordon's retirement turns this on its head. The book should have said “It often takes a crisis to convince professional management that an entrepreneur is required”. That's off the record, by the way.
I suspect that it's only if you've worked with Gordon that you can really understand what he's been endeavouring to achieve. Recent recruits are poorer for never having had that experience. They will never have the understanding that we have. I personally am grateful for this experience. I know that I am not alone."
The official opening of PA Technology 1975
Lucy Edge
October 27, 2013
Peter Lee
October 27, 2013
My Dear Gordon,
It is with great sadness we learned that you have had to leave us and your beloved Nikki and family to embark upon the final journey that we must all take.
Our sadness is compounded by the memory that Mo and I first met at a garden party at your family home in Milton Road some 45 years ago.You may recall I was fancy dressed as Al Capone. Things do not change much.
To help to while away the time,whilst you are on your way to your God,here is a little nostalgia.When I joined your electronics team in 1966 at the early Cambridge Consultants power house at soixante-neuf Histon Road the culture shock was mind blowing.
Of all the projects we undertook together the Cambridge Audio Laboratories Ltd P40 integrated audio amplifier is printed on my memory.I think after 40 plus years I could still draw the circuit diagram from memory.You will recall you cooked up this iconic industrial design with Roy Gray from Woodhuysen Design in about 1968. It was only 2 inches high(in old money).I remember the shiver as I contemplated getting a 90VA transformer in the box. As your junior engineer I was entrusted to take all your audio route circuit diagrams and turn them into hardware.They were all in General Practitioner script(you not find that in word). All in bright blue ink and fountain pen. They required of course Bletchley Park to decode the annotations.The final product gave us both hours of superb listening pleasure and then, during production,thousands of others joined us.
I confess to having hidden the Star Trek annual from you in case we had to design the next generation of matter transporters over the weekend.
Please get the gin and tonics ready when it is our turn for the journey,light on the ice,heavy on the gin with lemon and lime (hell it is 2 of my 5 a day).
While you are with the top person is there any chance you could get some free consulting.We need to put this b-----d crab back in its box.It keeps taking our dearest friends from us.
With fondest love,
Mo and Pete Lee
Simon Davey
October 16, 2013
Gordon was the foundation and inspiration for many people's careers, including my own, for which I am very grateful.
Tony Warren
October 12, 2013
I stayed in contact with Gordon for over 40 years although out paths had diverged. I would like to share an e-mail exchange between us, that took place just two weeks before he sadly left us. It reflects my feelings, but more importantly how he remained generous, gracious, thoughtful and full of humor to the very end. I am sure he would have wanted you all to share this:
Gordon: Of course it saddens us greatly to hear of your health problems and our thoughts are with you all the time. The news has made me think a lot about the influence that you have had on my own life, values and career. Many of the special incidences that we shared seem to pop into my head randomly and so I thought I would put some of these down on paper for us to re-share.
The first memory is the original “interview” in Milton Road. If you recall I responded to an ad for an electronics engineer, a skill which has always puzzled me, but the text of the ad intrigued me and so I responded. The interview was not what I expected, but I have used the techniques many times since then. And that was the start of a long adventure. Putting my own office door on in Milton Road, preparing a proposal for the Navy Research Lab without having a chance to discuss and generally being thrown in the deep-end. And celebrating the signing of the Debrett project!
Then there was Mettoy….Henry Ullman and Bryan Nicholls and overheating direct drive motors….many a drive to Northampton to keep the project alive. I used to dream of turntables rotating backwards….still do.
You also introduced me to the work of Pelz and Andrews, managing matrix structures, the importance of architecture in building creating cultures, establishing ethical organizations etc. These examples have stayed with me over the years and influenced my thinking, writing and teaching.
I am sure you recall the Middle Eastern excursions –exploding Oxygen cylinders, salt tablets in the desert and fruit cake in the bizarrely furnished house. Strange meetings in Istanbul and Teheran.
Then came the international expansion, Graham's move to Sweden, Paul's to Brussels, and mine to Germany. And of course, I would not have met Kirsten had I not accepted the challenge to build the European business and thereby gaining special friends in Germany, Italy and Switzerland, but perhaps not France!
All leading to your trust in me for the “big one”, the US. This was my greatest challenge and I will forever be grateful for you taking this risk. It was both exciting and tough.
There are very few people in one's lives that have a long-lasting and deep impact lasting for many years after direct interaction has waned. In mine you stand head and shoulders above all others. A day does not go past when I apply one or more of the ideas that I learned and shared with you.
But I was always a better clarinet player!
Hang in there mate. Keep thinking great thoughts. And thanks a million for your leadership and inspiration. Tony
Dear Tony,
Thank you very much for this most touching note - much appreciated by all of us.
The only point of disagreement is the relative standard of clarinet playing.
I had already given up playing when I married Sarah - needed the cash. Thus you saw me as a shadow of my former self - probably a bit like now.
I have warm recollections of our setting up in the ATT building in Princeton,
beers in the Rusty Scupper and that first big sale (laser printer) to Eaton,
proposal written over the weekend and authorised Tuesday! And the rain coming
through the ceiling!
We had some really great times together remembered by me with considerable
affection and huge respect.
Gordon
Richard Jones
October 12, 2013
Gordon was an extraordinary man with an impact far beyond those at his funeral today. Hundreds of people....hundreds of start-ups, and all with a role model who combined an astonishing intellect, huge curiousity and a sense of fun.
I have not and do not expect to ever meet the like and those that knew and worked with him are truly the poorer for his passing.
Thank you Gordon and thank you to his family for sharing him.
Britta & Gunnar Rylander
October 11, 2013
Gordon, our dearest friend.
You were not just a brilliant leader and professional, you were also a very good friend and a wonderful human being. We will always cherish the many fond memories from our 40-year long and profound friendship.
We will remember you with much love.
Britta and Gunnar
Anders Rylander
October 11, 2013
Gordon you were a role model for me as an entrepreneur and have inspired me to become an entrepreneur within the life-science area myself. Much of your thinking has been of great value for me. I'll miss your support, your immense knowledge but most of all your wonderful humour and warmth.
Anna Rylander
October 11, 2013
Gordon, my dear “God father”. Thank you for all the encouragement and support over the years, especially when embarking on a research career. You were a rich source of wisdom and inspiration for me, and I always appreciated our conversations greatly. It was a privilege to know you.
Love,
Anna
Britta and Gunnar Rylander
October 11, 2013
Gordon, our dearest friend.
You were not just a brilliant leader and professional, you were also a very good friend and a wonderful human being. We will always cherish the many fond memories from our 40-year long and profound friendship.
We will remember you with much love.
Uday Phadke
October 11, 2013
Gordon was a mentor and guide who had the unique capacity to bring out the best in others-much of what I do today was shaped by my experiences of working with him
Claire Ruskin
October 11, 2013
Gordon went on contributing to the thought leadership in Cambridge throughout his life. He spoke recently at a Cambridge Network group for technology leaders and inspired a new generation of discussion; I have a copy of Gordon's speech and will remember his humour, insight and wisdom, making a huge contribution to the Cambridge phenomenon.
Geraint Davies
October 10, 2013
When Gordon looked at you over his glasses with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye, you knew you were in for a fun ride through Physics...
Ray and Carol Wild
October 8, 2013
There was no one else quite like Gordon.
Stephanie Saunders
October 6, 2013
Gordon, you were such a charismatic and inspirational leader. Good fun too. I look back on those early, heady days at SG with the fondest of memories.
Stephanie
Calum Paterson
October 4, 2013
A brilliant man and a wonderful human being.
Gordon was a great friend and inspiration to all of us at Scottish Equity Partners.
October 4, 2013
For me, Gordon = warm memories, quick wit, many laughs, high creativity, energy and inspiration, a person with whom the laws of nature could not keep up, and immense gratefulness on my part for the privilege of being part of the heady, industry-pioneering, early CCL days (1968). Little did I appreciate then, although doubtless Gordon would have thought otherwise, that this was the man who would go on to launch over a 1000 hi-tech careers and play a pivotal role in the formation and growth of The Cambridge Phenomenon.
Thanks, Gordon,
Raja Bose (ex CCL and ex SG)
October 4, 2013
An intellectual titan who will be greatly missed. So many memories of times at PA, Generics and afterwards, he was a constant inspiration.
The first time I met Gordon was during the first week after I joined PA in the early 80's. He came to my desk, sat down, and launched into a discussion about the future of quantum entanglement in communication technology. At that time, over 30 years ago, this was an astounding assertion.
In common with so many concepts that Gordon generated, this was (of course!) prophetic - quantum entanglement is at the fundamental heart of quantum cryptography, now a mature communications technology product, and also in quantum computing.
This leaves aside non-professional common interests in high-end audio and music.
You, sir, will be remembered with great fondness.
Craig Sawyers
Brian Johnson
October 4, 2013
Gordon always found time for me during my business and social life.A lovely caring,helpful and understanding person.
God Bless.
October 4, 2013
A truly amazing man- we are proud to have been his friends.
Des and Marj
Fred Feast
October 3, 2013
Happy memories.
October 3, 2013
My Emeritus Professor of Life, Love and Good Wine.
I will miss you every day.
Your daughter
Lucy
Nigel Playford
October 3, 2013
He was inspiring, generous, brilliant, humorous, knew no limits (e.g. gravity, speed of light), expected the best in the nicest way .... and made you feel prepared, keen and delighted to give more than you previously believed you could.
And above all: a fanatical believer in the power of ideas and creativity.
I owe a huge amount to Gordon.
The Payphone that Gordon proposed to his friends at Plessey was typical. They had no share at all (that's zero) in a large global market which was about to be rocked by technology change.
Gordon told the Plessey board this was the perfect opportunity to become a world leader!
Chutzpah and drama were words invented for him.
The incumbent competition had already had one year to get ready, but within no time Plessey has spent large amounts of money getting Gordon's wacky engineers and scientists to come up, they hoped, with a world beater.
It was a hugely enjoyable and creative project, not least when presenting the prototype to the judging panel at BT - who were about to decide on an order to replace the entire stock of the UK's 75,000 public payphones.
One of the sleepy design engineers (who'd been up all weekend until 3am on that Monday morning getting it ready) had the sole job of standing by the machine and discretely pressing the reset button if the prototype phone should have a wobbly during the demo. It did. He pressed it. But BT never knew.
Result: Plessey took away 100% of GEC's UK business with the new product, and starting exporting it all around the world.
Tom Edge
October 3, 2013
I will miss you forever Dad. You were a truly great man and father. Love Tom x
Showing 1 - 29 of 29 results
Make a Donation
in Gordon EDGE's name
People and places connected with Gordon
How to support Gordon's loved ones
Honor a beloved veteran with a special tribute of ‘Taps’ at the National WWI Memorial in Washington, D.C.
The nightly ceremony in Washington, D.C. will be dedicated in honor of your loved one on the day of your choosing.
Read more
Should I Send Sympathy Flowers?
What kind of arrangement is appropriate, where should you send it, and when should you send an alternative?
Read more
What Should I Write in a Sympathy Card?
We'll help you find the right words to comfort your family member or loved one during this difficult time.
Read moreResources to help you cope with loss
Estate Settlement Guide
If you’re in charge of handling the affairs for a recently deceased loved one, this guide offers a helpful checklist.
Read more
Obituaries, grief & privacy: Legacy’s news editor on NPR podcast
Legacy's Linnea Crowther discusses how families talk about causes of death in the obituaries they write.
Read more
The Five Stages of Grief
They're not a map to follow, but simply a description of what people commonly feel.
Read moreWays to honor Gordon EDGE's life and legacy
Obituary Examples
You may find these well-written obituary examples helpful as you write about your own family.
Read more
Obituary Templates – Customizable Examples and Samples
These free blank templates make writing an obituary faster and easier.
Read more
How Do I Write a Eulogy?
Some basic help and starters when you have to write a tribute to someone you love.
Read more
Sponsored