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ARRL Special Bulletin ARLX011 (2013)

SB SPCL @ ARL $ARLX011
ARLX011 Wayne Green, W2NSD (SK)

ZCZC AX11
QST de W1AW  
Special Bulletin 11  ARLX011
From ARRL Headquarters  
Newington CT  September 16, 2013
To all radio amateurs 

SB SPCL ARL ARLX011
ARLX011 Wayne Green, W2NSD (SK)

Wayne S. Green II, W2NSD ("Never Say Die"), of Hancock, New
Hampshire, died September 13. He was 91. A well-known and often
outspoken figure during what some consider Amateur Radio's golden
years in the 1950s and 1960s, Green helmed CQ Magazine for 5 years
before becoming the self-proclaimed "El Supremo and Founder" in 1960
of 73 magazine, which he published until 2003.

"The purpose of [73] at that time was to get more hams building
equipment," Green recounted in a radio interview several years ago.
A hallmark of 73 was Green's iconic, rambling, and wide-ranging
"Never Say Die" editorials, in which he rarely missed an opportunity
to tweak the ARRL and his magazine competitors for their perceived
shortcomings. In 2012 Green contributed back issues of 73 to
Internet Archive.

"Wayne will be remembered in many different ways by many different
people, but he will be long remembered," said ARRL CEO David Sumner,
K1ZZ. "He maintained his membership in the ARRL despite being a
persistent critic. In the early days of packet radio he gave me some
good advice as to how the ARRL should promote the new technology:
'Talk about it as if everybody's doing it, and eventually they will
be."'

Indeed, Green often was ahead of the curve in promoting such
technologies as single-sideband phone, solid-state, FM, and the
marriage of computers and ham radio, and he went on to found and
publish Byte and other computer-oriented publications. "I live
mostly in the future," Green was quoted as saying.

Former ARRL Contributing Editor Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU, once wrote in
his "Surfin"' web column, "We take computers and the Internet for
granted today. I first became interested in computers when Wayne
Green, W2NSD, started writing about them in 73 magazine in the
1970s. Back then, you had to build your own from scratch or from
kits."

Green maintained a larger-than-life presence, even in the years
after he faded from the Amateur Radio spotlight, and he never did
really retire. "Hey old buddy, I will miss you," radio talk show
host Art Bell, W6OBB, posted to Wayne Green's blog. "NEVER SAY DIE
is a phrase that will be with me till it's my time." Green was an
occasional guest on Bell's "Coast to Coast AM" overnight talk
program. There hardly was an issue that Green would not confront,
and he expounded a variety of unconventional science, health, and
medical theories - from cold fusion and the moon landing to AIDS and
cancer cures. He continued to write and speak frequently on these
topics and others, as well as on public policy, even at hamfests
where he was a guest.

The "Final" in his blog sums up Green's overarching philosophy.
"Wayne Green passed away September 13, 2013 in a peaceful, painless
transition from this life on Earth. An eternal optimist, and one who
loved to share his never-ending zest for life, he was a friend to
many and will be missed greatly. Wayne was not afraid of dying and
was very much ready to embark on his next great adventure to the
afterlife."
NNNN
/EX

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