NeilofOz-RIP
 

With permission of NeilofOz's son I am heartbroken to tell you that Neil died yesterday. He fought the good fight against the cancer that he had but he lost the battle.

Thanks to your palliative and community care services he was kept comfortable thankfully. His four children and son-in-law were with him during his last days which was such a comfort to him and his loving wife.

I last spoke to Neil some days ago and he still had his good spirit. I will always remember the wonderful day the three of us spent in San Francisco and I will always keep him in my thoughts and in my heart. He was truly a loving friend.

Rest In Peace, dear Neil.

Hello Love,
thank you for letting us know this terrible news. I cannot tell you how sad this makes me feel. Oh so sad. Neil was such a respected contributor on this site. Oh we are so going to miss him.

If you are able to pass on my sincerest sympathies to Neils family I'd be very grateful Love.

This is a sad day.

That's very sad news, LoveItaly. Thanks for letting us know. We emailed a bit and I had a great night with him & Robyn in Canberra earlier in the year. I knew he wasn't at all well, but am shocked and greatly saddened at his passing.

Dear Stormbird, I certainly will for sure. A sad day indeed. My heart is breaking so I can only imagine how his wife and family are feeling. His son, when I talked to him a bit ago, reminded me so much of his dad as he also sounded strong and loving.

And you are most welcome, Bokhara, although it was with a broken heart I posted this thread. Sad, yes, I am too as he was too young and if he hadn't been ill he and and his wife would have been in Italy at this time. I can imagine your lovely evening together in Canberra as I will always cherish our time together in San Francisco.

What awful news. We will miss him and his contributions on this board. Strangely I was only thinking of him today.

Fodor's won't be the same without the wit and clever repartee of our much loved Neil.

I'm really going to miss him.

I am so sad. He was such a knowledgeable poster, and a great loss to this board.

Lavandula

I am truly saddened to hear this. Neil was always so helpful and willing to share good sound advice and information.

_______________________________________________
Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

Neil will be missed as not only was he knowledgeable but able to disagree wholly without malice. I loved his sense of humour.
Alan

I'm so sorry to hear this news. Thanks for letting us know.

Lee Ann

Thanks for letting us know this very sad news, Love Italy.

Neil's erudite and humourus posts will be much missed here, as well as the kindness and hospitality he showed to those visiting Canberra.

nancy, this i very sad news . neil and robyn stayed in my apartment in oakland and then we met up here in victoria. do you have an e mail address for robyn or a phone #. i would like to send my condolences. he was such a giving, funny person

sadly Andrew

ps nancy: adbeck@ shaw.ca

This is sad. I never met Neil, and I so enjoyed his wit and view of the world. I’ve been thinking, “How come Neil has not responded to this or that topic. He’d insert a bit of wisdom into the discussion”.

And now he’s gone.

Sad.

LoveItaly, would it be a nice idea to post this news on the Asia Board?

Neil was a contributor there and as we know, had a very keen interest in Asia. I have a feeling a lot of the regulars there would probably not visit the Lounge or the Australian Board regularly, and would also want to add their memories & tributes for our friend.

Dear AndrewDavid, I am so glad to have your correct email address as I wasn't sure that I did. I will immediately email you the contact information. I so wanted to make sure you that you knew the sad news about our Neil.

Your kindness in offering your condo in Oakland when Neil and his wife were in the SF/Bay Area was so appreciated and enjoyed as I am sure you know. And we spent hours at the MonaLisa Restaurant in North Beach as you and I did also. Best regards dear friend.

Hello Bokhara, I was so sad and brokenhearted last evening that I didn't think to post on the Asia Forum but our dear bookchick did so for me.

After a bit I will send all the beautiful posts on the various threads to Neil's family. I was told we gave him so much joy but I hope that Neil and his loving family truly knows how much joy he gave all of us. When they read all the wonderful tributes I am sure that they will understand how much Neil meant to all of us.

Thanks LI, I'd like to send Robyn some flowers - could you possibly let me have their address too, please? bokhara 77 at hotmail dot com (omitting the spaces).

I have his mobile & email, but don't want to disturb them at this time.

Many thanks

What a sad day! I too will miss Neil's wonderful contributions to this site. His knowledge, wit and sense of humour have enriched my travels with Fodor's immensely. My condolences to his family.

May you rest in peace, Neil.

I am very sorry to hear of Neil's passing. We'll all miss him here as a member of the "Fodor's family". He has always helped make this a fun site to visit.

Ralph

No man is an island entire of itself; every man
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe
is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as
well as any manner of thy friends or of thine
own were; any man's death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

John Donne

Yes. He will indeed be missed.

I am so sad to hear about Neil, LoveItaly. Thank you for letting us know.

Neil gave me some great suggestions for our trip to Australia this summer. I'll miss him on this forum.

I am shocked and so saddened to hear of Neil's passing. He was such a gentle, erudite, humorous, well-informed and gifted writer who's loss will leave a black hole on the boards.

It was Neil's style and generosity on the Australia forum that persuaded me to take the plunge and sign-up to join the Fodor's conversations in 2005. I've looked for and enjoyed his threads on all the boards, and his most recent and last thread ('Australia Votes' in the Lounge) is a wonderful final testament of his inherent courtesy and knowledge, laced with a wicked sense of humour, and deflecting so graciously attempts to raise the temperature to flaming.

I like to think Neil has travelled to the next dimension, and his memory and unique and insightful contributions will live in cyberspace forever.

My sincere condolences to his family and friends.

Here's the link to Neil's final thread

http://www.fodors.com/community/fodo...lia-votes.cfm#

RIP Neil_Oz

"Pain is deeper than all thought,
laughter is higher than all pain." (E. Hubbard)

Dear Fodorites, Neil's lovely wife Robyn has posted a message on the thread in the Lounge regarding the sad news about Neil
that I am sure you will all want to read. I will also let her know that there is this thread, the thread about toasting our Neil and the thread in the Asia forum.

So sad.

I'll be in Canberra next week and was wondering what he was up to.

He'll certainly be missed here and elsewhere

RIP Neil.

I've only just seen this as I have been away. I'm really saddened to hear of Neil's death. He was a fabulous contributor, a great writer and terrific wit. He will be sorely missed.