Adam Banks

It is with great sadness that we say farewell to longtime Mac|Life writer Adam Banks, who tragically passed away in November last year. What he didn’t know about Apple wasn’t worth talking about. He was in charge of our monthly Random Access Memory and we know, from the many emails we get, that it was a favorite page in the magazine. Fellow Mac|Life scribe and good friend Craig Grannell pays tribute to the man who will be sorely missed

BEST KNOWN FOR his editorship of MacUser magazine, Adam Banks was a hugely accomplished writer and virtuoso designer. But he was also a man with a big heart: kind, generous, witty, and always keen to offer encouragement.

For those of us in the interlocking worlds of Apple, publishing and design — and we are many — it seems unreal that Adam will never again pop up on Twitter to offer a pithy comment or sagely bite of wisdom. There’s that feeling in the gut — a desperation to have one last chat on the phone. But time is weird: you seem to have so much of it, and then you have none at all.

Adam knew a lot about time. Although he’d drive printers mad with a fluid interpretation of print deadlines, the hours he devoted to crafting MacUser were akin to wizardry, given that he was editor, designer, and creative director. The publication was truly his — and those of us fortunate enough to work alongside him clung on for the ride, as if atop an F1 car majestically zigzagging through the grid.

The finished article was always unfailingly brilliant and beautiful, a unique mix of words and visuals unlike anything else out there. And when MacUser closed, his sagely work continued to find outlets in the tech press, lecturing, support for start–ups and local press, and all manner of magazines and creative vehicles.

Longtime Apple CEO Steve Jobs is supposed to have once said we’re all here to put a dent in the universe. Safe to say, Adam Banks made his mark, in the Apple world and far beyond; it’s no exaggeration that a great many creatives wouldn’t be where they are today without having benefitted from Adam’s guidance and support.

The world is a poorer place without him in it. Wherever you are, Adam, we hope you are at peace.