At Make:, we are mourning the loss of our colleague, Patrick DiJusto, our Books editor, who passed away unexpectedly in a Brooklyn hospital last Saturday after complications from a surgery two weeks earlier. We are remembering Patrick’s life as an author, editor, tech enthusiast and New Yorker.
From Patrick’s bio on Makezine: “He has sworn to defend mankind against the eventual rise of the killer bots.” Patrick had a strong moral sense of how technology could be used for good and how it can be misused. An article he wrote for us in June, MOSI-MISO and 140 Years of Wrong, advocated eliminating the “master/slave” terminology and markings from microcontrollers and other hardware components. You can hear Patrick’s very nice voice on a Make:cast podcast with the authors of the Make: Geometry book. Our book authors valued his insights and help in shaping their books.
As a journalist, Patrick wrote for Wired, the New Yorker, the Atlantic and many other publications. A Washington Post (2015) review of Patrick’s own book said: “Patrick Di Justo has written a lively coffee-table book for the modern consumer. We could describe it here, but you’ll get the point from its mouthful of a title: “This Is What You Just Put in Your Mouth? From Eggnog to Beef Jerky, the Surprising Secrets of What’s Inside Everyday Products.”
We are deeply saddened by the loss of Patrick as a colleague. He was smart, funny and enthusiastic. Our thoughts and love go out to his family, and his partner, Emily Gertz. Patrick and Emily were co-authors of several handbooks for us and like-minded partners in life. We can’t easily accept losing Patrick and his sensibility. All of us at Make: and those in the maker community who knew him will miss him.
If you knew Patrick, please feel free to share a story in the comments below.
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