John Martellaro was good man. He was not only a better man than me, he was one of the best people I knew. It is with a heavy heart that I tell you Mr. Martellaro passed away today.

He rose to the rank of Captain in the U.S. Air Force, and he was a NASA scientist. He worked for years at Apple, and most importantly to me, he was a columnist and the voice of reason and humanity at The Mac Observer. He wrote SciFi and a variety of tech columns for several other Mac sites, too.

John was kind, smart, logical, and always reasonable. He was both considerate and considered. Every word that came out of his mouth had a reason to be there and a place to go. He played peacemaker for me more than once. I’ll always be grateful for that.

The man was funny, too. I almost typed “wickedly funny,” though that isn’t right at all. John was never wicked where I saw him, but his sense of humor would sometimes sneak up on you when you were least expecting. I was always happy to see John, and his absence leaves a gaping hole in my heart and in the world.

John is survived by his wife, Lea, a darling titan of a woman, and by the many people who knew and loved him. Salute, sir.

Some other posts about John:

Jeff Gamet (Bluesky)