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Larry Dignan, Andrew Nusca and Rachel King

Rest in peace Roland Piquepaille

By | January 9, 2009, 11:05am PST

Summary: It is with great sadness to tell you that our Emerging Technologies blogger Roland Piquepaille has passed away suddenly. His wife Suzanne just confirmed his passing. Roland, 62, was one of our most passionate bloggers and his ability to explain complex science well was something to behold.  Roland spent most of his career in software, mainly [...]

It is with great sadness to tell you that our Emerging Technologies blogger Roland Piquepaille has passed away suddenly. His wife Suzanne just confirmed his passing.

roland.pngRoland, 62, was one of our most passionate bloggers and his ability to explain complex science well was something to behold.  Roland spent most of his career in software, mainly for high performance computing and visualization companies, working for example for Cray Research and Silicon Graphics. He left the corporate world in 2001 after 33 years and jumped into blogging.

Roland passed away Monday in Paris. He was hit with enterococcal bacteria that led to a high fever and health complications beyond that. Suzanne said that the doctors are still trying to quantify how Roland got the bacteria and the exact details. We spent the last few hours confirming Roland’s passing as word began to spread. It has been a rough year for the ZDNet family.

There will be a ceremony held on Monday. Rest in peace Roland, we’ll miss you. Suzanne said that Roland had a few posts in the pipeline and wanted them published. If she is able to pull them from Roland’s PC we’ll put them on his blog to complete his record.

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Topics

Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and SmartPlanet as well as Editorial Director of ZDNet's sister site TechRepublic.

Disclosure

Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan has nothing to disclose. He doesn’t hold investments in the technology companies he covers.

Biography

Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and SmartPlanet as well as Editorial Director of ZDNet's sister site TechRepublic. He was most recently Executive Editor of News and Blogs at ZDNet. Prior to that he was executive news editor at eWeek and news editor at Baseline. He also served as the East Coast news editor and finance editor at CNET News.com. Larry has covered the technology and financial services industry since 1995, publishing articles in WallStreetWeek.com, Inter@ctive Week, The New York Times, and Financial Planning magazine. He's a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism and the University of Delaware.

For daily updates, follow Larry on Twitter.

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RE: Rest in peace Roland Piquepaille
Narr vi 22nd Jan 2009
Yes, Roland's column here was a true highlight. He
wrote as an experienced journalist, and someone with a
true interest and insight with the new.

I always enjoyed his articles very much.

To his family, peaceful thoughts with gratitude.

Narr Vi
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Rest in Peace, Mr. Piquepaille
brble 9th Jan 2009
His posts were the highlights of ZDNet for me - he will be missed.
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here, here!
justincase@... 12th Jan 2009
I agree. I looked forward to every one.
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Staff
He will be missed
JFPSF 9th Jan 2009
Roland will be missed
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re: He will be missed
johnay 9th Jan 2009
Indeed he will be. He was my favorite of all the bloggers here. His will be some mighty big shoes to fill, and I believe it is important that they be filled.
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Contributr
Rest in peace Roland Piquepaille
zwhittaker 9th Jan 2009
My thoughts go to his friends, his partner and family, and to the rest of the ZD bloggers. Rest in peace.
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An excellent science writer
P. Douglas 9th Jan 2009
He was arguably the best science writer whose works I have read. His writings wery succinct, easily comprehensible, and had human feeling. His loss is significant. Best wishes to his widow.
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RE: Rest in peace Roland Piquepaille
Loverock Davidson 9th Jan 2009
Rest in peace.
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Contributr
When I grow up I want to be Roland
jperlow 9th Jan 2009
To have Roland's breath of expertise on so many aspects of science and technology is rare indeed.

He had the coolest gig on ZDNet. I'm not sure how we'll ever replace such a talented writer.
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That's a sweet tribute
Marcos El Malo 9th Jan 2009
However, the trick is to never really grow up. Roland's appeal
as a writer is that he fully retained his child-like imagination
and sense of wonder.

RIP Roland.
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A terrible loss!
javajunkie@... 9th Jan 2009
Of course if he were a sports announcer this would be a huge deal.

It's not only sad we can't benefit from his talent anymore, but also that his talent wasn't recognized more.

Which was more important, his topics or the BCS ratings system. Which gets more coverage.

Hey with his ability to explain things, maybe even those football players and other athletes you saw around campus who weren't really there for the academics could have understood a thing or two.

I guess it is a huge deal for me and wish everyone felt the same way.
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RE: Rest in peace Roland Piquepaille
magerleagues1 9th Jan 2009
RIP. You will be missed.
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Condolences to his family.
V@... 9th Jan 2009
His blogs were always interesting to read, even though I've only been reading them for a short time.

Sad to hear he is no longer with us.
0 Votes
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Condolences to his family
maalmike@... 9th Jan 2009
He surely bring high quality blogs, he'll be missed.
Sad moment for ZDnet.
0 Votes
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What a loss. I always looked forward to new articles from Roland. He was a such a good writer. Wish his family the best in this difficult time for them.
sad
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Roland was special.
peter_erskine@... 10th Jan 2009
He had contacts and access for new fundamental science, things that can bring true progress. Not many journalists cover that. This is a great pity.
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My heart goes out to his family. May as time passes the pain from his loss is comforted from knowing that he was a great man who unselfishly shared his heart and soul with all who were smart enough to listen
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Farewell my friend
bysance 10th Jan 2009
For having known Roland since my teenage years - all
those messages make his loss all the more poignant - I
wished he could still be with us an instant, just to see one
more time the frown of impatience on his face (let's get
on with the work at hand!) & trying to hide the little spark
of amusement and pleasure in his eyes nonetheless.
Beneath the gruff surface of an attentive and dedicated
professional, was a warm, sensitive and deeply committed
soul - That's probably why his endeavors reached the best
in so many of us. Job well done my friend, we'll be missing
you.
JC
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RE: Rest in peace Roland Piquepaille
ejhonda 10th Jan 2009
I loved Roland's finds of the bizarre and truly unique items. Our sympathies to his loved ones.
He blogged on real science and stayed true to the topics of science and technology. He left the politics to the rest of ZDNet. He was a great example for ZDNet.

RIP
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RE: Rest in peace Roland Piquepaille
Cico666 11th Jan 2009
Having myself degree in physics, I really enjoyed his posts. I will miss him. RIP Roland...
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You'll be missed...
Spiritusindomit@... 19th Jan 2009
You were one of the only decent writers on zdnet.
0 Votes
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Blogging for ZDnet seems to be dangerous to one's health - or could it be sitting at a computer 24/7 trying to keep up with the constant stream of mostly irrelevant babble, separating lots of chaff from a few grains of wheat - is bad?
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Astounding variety
kidtree 21st Jan 2009
As valuable as news about malware and the latest cellphone is, it was refreshing to read Roland's latest news on science and technology, often totally unrelated to the usual ZDNet fare. People who can digest the overload of new information in the world and deliver the high points to the rest of us improve life for us all. I'll miss Roland's writing. I wish I could say something that might ease the shock to his wife, family, and colleagues.
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RE: Rest in peace Roland Piquepaille
Narr vi 22nd Jan 2009
Yes, Roland's column here was a true highlight. He
wrote as an experienced journalist, and someone with a
true interest and insight with the new.

I always enjoyed his articles very much.

To his family, peaceful thoughts with gratitude.

Narr Vi

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