RadCom columnist and RSGB Life Vice President Pat Hawker, G3VA, of London, England, passed away February 21. He was 90. For 50 years -- 1958-2008 -- Hawker penned the bi-monthly “Technical Topics” column in RadCom, the member journal of the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB), focusing on many new techniques and devices that came into being and were enjoyed by radio amateurs in the second half of the 20th century.

Born in Minehead, Somerset in 1922, Hawker’s schoolboy interest in radio never left him. He heard his first amateur station on 20 meters in the autumn of 1935. He obtained the “artificial aerial” license 2BUH at age 14 and became G3VA in October 1938, at the then-minimum age of 16. Hawker was involved in many aspects of radio, beginning in World War II as a member of the Radio Security Service (RSS) and its connections to MI5 and MI6. After the Allied invasion of Europe, he spent time with British intelligence services, as well as time with Holland's Bureau of National Security. In 1948, Hawker became an assistant to RSGB General Secretary John Clarricoats, G6CL (SK).

Hawker was also the editor of Electronics Weekly and the journal for the Royal Television Society. From 1968-1987, he worked for the engineering division of Britain’s Independent Broadcasting Authority. In addition to writing “Technical Topics,” Hawker also wrote various books on electronics and radio and television engineering, including A Guide to Amateur Radio, Amateur Radio Techniques, Technical Topics Scrapbook (all three published by the RSGB), as well as Outline of Radio and Television, and The Radio Servicing Pocket Book. He was the subject of the RSGB-published book A Bit of Controversy: Pat Hawker -- A Radio Life by Steve White, G3ZVW.

In June 2006, Queen Elizabeth II awarded Hawker the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for “Services to Radio Communications.” In 2006, he was inducted into the CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame. Hawker was named a Life Vice President of the RSGB in 2008 for his contributions to Amateur Radio and for his writing across a whole spectrum of publications over many years.  -- Thanks to the RSGB for some information.