ASSOCIATES (2004, July, v. 11, no. 1) - associates.ucr.edu
In Memory of John Lozowsky
During my internet searches to contact contributors to the first issues of Associates, I was shocked and saddened to find that John Lozowsky was killed in the September 11, 2001 terror attacks in New York's World Trade Center.
In 1994, John Lozowsky was the Assistant Director, Information Management, and staff at The Treasury, Wellington, New Zealand. He contributed to July and November 1994 Associates issues, submitting articles about full text data management and the experience at The Treasury in New Zealand. The articles are at: http://bubl.ac.uk/archive/journals/associates/v01n0194/featur13.htm and http://bubl.ac.uk/archive/journals/associates/v01n0294/column5.htm.
Kendall Simmons, then Editor-in-Chief of Associates, recalls that "John contacted me with the idea of doing a series about what they were doing at the Treasury. He thought that full text searching was a cool library topic. He was going to do a longer series than the two items he passed on, but got too tied up in other projects so had to beg off."
In "For the Record," February 2002 (http://home.clear.net.nz/pages/arma.wgtn/ForTheRecord/Magazine%2002%2002.doc) it was reported that John Lozowsky, who had joint New Zealand and U.S. citizenship, was the information technology manager at the Ministry of Health in Wellington from January 1996 to April 1999. Previously, he had worked at National Archives of New Zealand and was assistant director of information management at the Treasury. He had worked in New York as an IT consultant for two years.
In Newsletter No. 45, October 2001 (http://www.aranz.org.nz/SITE_Default/SITE_publications/x-files/792.pdf), Ken Scadden, Director, Museum of City & Sea, said:
John Lozowsky came to work at National Archives in the late 1980s as the result of a visit made by former Chief archivist Ray Grover to the New York State Archives some time before. Ray issued an invitation to some of their staff to come & work in New Zealand for a period of time – a working holiday/exchange programme. From the moment John arrived he made an impact. His unconventional mode of dress (consisting of shorts & tee-shirts for most of the year) – raised a number of eyebrows among the senior Management Team. John was an extra-extrovert – his "Hail Fellow – Well Met!" attitude & his bubbly personality made him a popular member of staff.
John joined the Records Management Branch of National Archives – the sole male in an all woman team - a role he relished & thrived on! John has a great empathy with & aptitude for computers. Having done a lot of computer work in the States he could see the application of IT to archives & records management work & had a vision for computerisation at National Archives, while most of us were in the IT "Dark Ages." He was a thorough professional at his job & his enthusiasm for the application of IT was infectious.
John was someone who also liked to party. He was flamboyant & loved socialising. No matter what section of National Archives – if there was a party John would be there. He did a great job in breaking down barriers between records management Branch & the rest of the organisation.
John left National Archives in 1991 & moved to the Treasury. He later worked at the Department of Health.
The last time I saw him, he was riding his bike along Queens Wharf – his uniform of shorts & tee-shirt & those bright eyes peering out from under his bike helmet. He hailed me from a distance of 50 meters – "How’s it going man?" He stopped & we chatted for 10 minutes & he rode off to work. He was someone who lived his life to the full, & will be fondly remembered by his many friends & colleagues here in New Zealand.
John Lozowsky is survived by his wife and young son. Our deepest sympathies to his family and friends.
Wendee Eyler
Editor, Associates
rivwe@ucr.edu