Jonathan Green-Armytage

By Tony Collins

Jonathan Green-Armytage, one of the most helpful and charismatic people I have had the pleasure to know, has died. He was a journalist at Computer Weekly in the 1980s and 1990s and later joined Gartner.

After I joined Computer Weekly he gave me a unique perspective on the ICT industry. He was proof of the old adage that the better you understand a complex subject the more simply you can explain it.

An Oxbridge classicist, he understood the origins of English well enough to dislike long words where short ones would do; and I often think of JGA – as we used to call him – when I’m tempted to use an abstract instead of a concrete word or phrase.

JGA is a reminder that saying things simply takes time and thought. [Bernard Shaw said he didn’t have the time to write a short letter.]

I’ll also remember JGA for his gruff-gleeful humble-professor explanations that could make anyone smile appreciatively.

John Riley, formerly Deputy Editor of Computer Weeky, has written a wonderfully memorable obituary. Sorry JGA – I couldn’t resist “wonderfully memorable”.

Jonathan Green-Armytage