We were all grieved to hear that long time Associate Editor, Chris Silagy, died at the age of 41 from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma on the 13th December, 2001. Chris was foundation director of the Monash Institute for Health Services Research, director of the Australasian Cochrane Centre, and chaired the international steering group of the Cochrane Collaboration from 1996 to 1998. Chris was a remarkable man, an influential family physician, and an inspirational leader in evidence-based primary health care. Despite repeated chemotherapy, a splenectomy, and a pleurodesis, he continued to work tirelessly until the day before his death, but also found time for family and friends, to take his wife ballooning, and to write his own obituary, which can be found at http://www.bmj.com:80/cgi/content/full/324/7328/53?maxtoshow=.