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.