I just learned that we have lost a colleague I very much looked forward to meeting next week for the first time. Miguel Llorens passed away about two weeks ago. His blog had been silent since mid-August and nothing had been seen from him on Twitter since the beginning of this month. Quite unusual for a man who readily and frequently shared his insight and wit on many relevant controversies in our profession.
We who are his peers in the profession can never know the loss of this man as his family and friends surely do, but I saw him as a man of integrity who did not hesitate to call out naked emperors and other charlatans, and he often did so with a razor wit and a depth of analysis that I cannot match on my best days. He entertained me, he informed me, and he often inspired me. He was a man worth knowing.
Farewell, Miguel. Vaya con Dios.
Moving words, Kevin. I fully agree with you.
ReplyDeleteI'm shattered to hear the news. Thanks for sharing. I loved his blog and his razor-sharp wit.
ReplyDeleteTerrible and sad news. Que en paz descanse.
ReplyDeleteTerrible news. This is the first time I am not happy to read your blog, Kevin.
ReplyDeleteI will miss Miguel.
Thank you for starting this space to remember Miguel Llorens, Kevin.
ReplyDeleteThe community is crying today. The Steppenwolf will be missed.
One of my friends is going to the conference in Warsaw next week in large part because of Miguel. I think she admired his principles and his solid defense of real common sense and professionalism as much as I did. In the debate on machine translation next week he will speak more clearly from an empty chair than anyone else in the room I think, and I hope that he is heard and listened to. He will remain a light on the path we should aspire to and defend for our professional futures. I can't speak for the community, Aurora, and I never will. But individuals, even those who did not have the pleasure of meeting him in person, certainly are.
ReplyDeleteKevin,
ReplyDeleteWhen I read you two would be talking in Warsaw, I immediately started hating the Atlantic Ocean. What a couple!
Yes. We lost a very special person.
I have shared this URL with his brother Manuel and his cousins. Might our condolences relieve their terrible pain a bit.
Au
When someone proposed the debate on MT, there was one name that immediately came to my mind to speak on behalf of truth and good sense, and I proposed it without hesitation. When he agreed to come and speak, I was very happy that I would get to meet him at last, and I hoped for a chance to know better the man behind the wit I found so inspiring on so many occasions. He deconstructed the lies of the "content tsunami" better than anyone I know - with relentless logic and no concern for the mud that some would fling who love broken processes more than the people they would break. Go read his essays again, people, and think, think, think about them.
ReplyDeleteNO doubt, Social networks will not be the same without him. The world needs people like Miguel, with his sense of humour and spicy comments.
ReplyDeleteMiguel, wherever you are, take a good care of us. We will terribly miss you. D. E. P.
I am shattered, too. He was one of the few persons I admired for his disciplined, clear and logical thinking, and for his kind of humour. I have followed his blog for a year and will miss this kind of encounters with him enormously. Rest in peace Miguel
ReplyDelete¡Te echaremos de menos, Miguel! Una gran pérdida porque el mundo necesitaba más personas como tú. Como dice una canción española de Loquillo ahora los que quedamos "somos pocos y cobardes".
ReplyDeleteLeon Hunter
I was terribly sad to hear this news today. It won't be the same without you, Miguel - rest in peace.
ReplyDeletehttp://foxdocs.biz/BetweenTranslations/r-i-p-miguel-llorens/
This is really terrible news! I will miss Miguel and his sharp wits! :(
ReplyDeleteAgradezco tan bonitas palabras de todos ustedes. Miguel siempre fue un motivo de orgullo, su fallecimiento es un golpe imposible de asimilar, las palabras tan amables de todos ustedes realmente nos reconfortan. GRACIAS !!!!!
ReplyDeleteMy condolences to his family. I just met him twice and it was a pleasure to talk to him. He was a thoughtful person and with a deep knowledge of his profession. Rest in peace.
ReplyDeleteTodo mi cariño para su familia. Miguel era un hombre que inspiraba confianza y afabilidad, incluso entre los que no lo conocíamos profundamente.
Miguel and I met six months ago in Madrid and had a very pleasant discussion about the translation industry, which he captured in this blog post (http://traductor-financiero.blogspot.com.es/2012/05/my-dinner-with-renato.html). Even though we disagreed on many points, I admired his passion, professionalism, and especially his wit. I will miss him!
ReplyDeleteI am so sad to read these news - he was the best translation blogger out there and someone you felt you'd enjoy meeting in person for a nice talk and laugh. I will miss him a lot - life can be so unfair when it tries to.
ReplyDeleteRenato, I remember that post well. It made me very glad, because it showed me that however barbed his attacks might be on a position he disagreed with, he was not incapable of acknowledging those with whom he disagreed as people to be respected, at the latest when he met them. My respect for both of you increased when you were able to meet and talk and learn from each other. We all need to do that more.
ReplyDeleteMy humble homage to a great translator and, as it transpired in all his posts, a centered, level-headed, nice human person. Unbelievable news, a great loss. Shall miss him greatly. My deep sympathy to his family and friends.
ReplyDeleteI did not have the pleasure of meeting Miguel in person but so admired his dedication to our profession, his clear,passionate writing and his honesty. I truly feel the loss to our community and express sincerest condolences to his family.
ReplyDeleteI had the immense privilege of working with Miguel within the translation department at Goldman Sachs International in London and will always remember him for his wit and warmth. What struck me most in his presence was this great combination of modesty and brilliance as it can only be encountered in the extraordinarily gifted. I shall miss his insights and his excellent criticism on a linguistic, work-specific and political level. But most of all I shall miss him as a colleague and friend. My condolences to his family and friends.
ReplyDeleteI was saddened to learn of this disheartening news. I had only begun to follow Miguel’s blog a few months ago and even in that period it was obvious that his words, wisdom and perpetual energy had an outsize and invigorating impact on the profession and his colleagues all over the world. He was certainly immensely admired, and for very good reason.
ReplyDeleteMiguel was a brilliantly insightful diagnostician of the pretense and bombast that persistently infect this industry. He would first skewer and then eviscerate people in positions of wealth and privilege who would look down their noses at those dirty little translators in the trenches whose talent and energy were filling their coffers. Every industry has crooks, intellectually bankrupt “thought leaders” and chest-thumpers who recycle meaningless drivel and try to sell it as their own.
Miguel would point at these people in public, laugh out loud, and then throw water balloons right at their heads. He had no truck with the technology poseurs, flim-flam artists and “content tsunami” toads. He knew instinctively that the people who used the term “content tsunami” not only had to look up the word “tsunami” to find out what it meant (as well its language of origin) but also had not read much of any “content” in their lives, anywhere, in any language.
Did I mention he did this in public?
I remember the first time I tried to post a comment to Miguel’s blog because I failed miserably in getting my comments to save. It then dawned on me (I can be very slow) that he had to approve them and he now had my 10 attempted uploaded comments in a queue awaiting him. I realized with some trepidation that I’d need to e-mail him and apologize. Now I had just begun to read his blog and it was clear even then that he routinely crushed people much bigger than me out of sheer boredom and then promptly chewed them up for casual snacks, all before lunch.
His e-mail response to me positively glowed with graciousness and charm. He apologized and assured me that many other people were having trouble uploading comments, something I’m sure was pure generosity of spirit. When it came to other translators he certainly embodied the dictum, “give away credit, take blame.”
He was a translator’s translator. And he will be missed immensely.
I am shocked and deeply saddened by his death. My thoughts go out to his family.
ReplyDeleteI knew him only through his blog. His posts were always interesting and insightful. He will be missed by all of us.
Thank you, Kevin, for your moving words. I am deeply shocked - although I had never met Miguel in person, I greatly enjoyed his astute writing in defence of our profession.
ReplyDeleteNo way, what a shock. Does anyone know how he died? How old he was? He seemed to be quite young in his photo. What a shame to lose such a talented, outspoken and original person.
ReplyDelete