His lovely wife very kindly sent me a message letting me know he had passed peacefully in his sleep following a battle with cancer.
I first met Mick around 25 years ago. I became a member of the ASV (Astronomical Society of Victoria) through another friend, and started spending weekends out at the dark sky site. One evening, I met Mick. It was a quiet night with only a few of us out there. Mick introduced himself, showed me something through his scope, and offered me a drink. We spent the night observing, chatting and laughing. We got on well - music, humour and the stars, and we became firm friends quickly.
Many evenings were spent stargazing with Mick. We even hung out sometimes away from the dark sky field. Mick built my first telescope for me - a beautiful device nicknamed Woodstock - which I loved and used a lot.
Sometimes we were the only two on the field, and those evenings were special. We would play some music while we observed, usually acoustic albums, (I introduced him to Neil Young) and just talk about our lives. We often spoke about our inner feelings and emotions, things we never spoke about to others.
Over the years I started drifting away from the ASV for a number of reasons, and Mick and I saw each other less frequently. Mick didn't do social media at all, and so when I moved here to the UK we lost touch, apart from a few second hand messages sent to me via his wife.
Mick means a lot to me. I cannot think of one instance where we argued or had a disagreement. Ever. I only remember talking, laughing and stargazing. Especially the laughing - we did that a lot.
I send much to love to Ree and their sons.
You will be missed Mick, as you walk beyond the stars.
