This January issue of The Lichenologist sees a change in the managing editorship. Shortly after agreeing to take over from Dennis Brown as Senior Editor in 2000, I asked a former colleague, Dr A. (Tony) F. Braithwaite, who had recently taken early retirement at Nottingham, whether he would be interested in taking on the role of Managing Editor. Tony said that he would think about it but I detected a sparkle of interest in his eye that gave me cause for hope. The following day I got his positive response. I have often looked back at this moment and wondered, with a certain degree of horror, what would have happened if he had said “no”. With hindsight, I had perhaps acted rashly in accepting the editorship without first making sure that essential support would be available. Tony’s contribution to the journal by managing manuscripts post-acceptance has been immense. It is not an exaggeration to say that, without him, the job as Senior Editor would not have been possible while holding down a full-time academic position.

Tony’s own research area was fern cytogenetics. He described an alternative method of agamospory that operates in a relatively small number of unrelated ferns and is still referred to today as “the Braithwaite system”. Tony’s grasp of systematics conventions was to prove invaluable in his editorial role. In 1965, the year after he received his doctorate from the University of Leeds, Tony took part in the Royal Society Expedition to the Solomon Islands. While Tony was responsible for collecting ferns, another young graduate, David Hill, was the expedition’s lichenologist. When the BLS held their 2013 AGM in Nottingham, Tony attended and met David again for the first time since 1966. Also at that meeting Tony was awarded the Ursula Duncan Award for his services to the Society. This was the first occasion (and to date the only one) that the Society honoured a non-BLS member with this award.

Many authors over the years will have had reason to be grateful to Tony. This might have been because he polished their English here and there, re-organized tables and/or figures into a more logical layout or one more consistent with the journal house style, or possibly because he spotted an error or an omission, or perhaps reworded an awkward sentence. The Society is grateful to him for making The Lichenologist run smoothly for 16 years but above all I am grateful for his tremendous hard work, wise council and companionship. Even during a period of serious illness (from which I am glad to say he has recovered) Tony continued his editorial duties and the journal continued to be produced on schedule. Needless to say he is already greatly missed by myself and the rest of the editorial team.

During the past twelve months Margaret Crittenden has been working as Tony’s understudy and progressively taking over many of his duties. She now takes up the Managing Editorship.