from Gaia Scerif

Jon and I met for the first time in 2000, when I started working with Annette Karmiloff-Smith. I explained that the developmental processes I was most interested in were changes in attentional control, and Annette's immediate suggestion for a PhD co-supervisor was Jon. I knew that I was privileged when he agreed given his elegant contributions to the field of attention, but meeting him in person was "something else". Within minutes of discussing a potential experiment, he would point out what would or would not work (as I discovered when I was stubborn enough not to listen) and would deliver all this in the most soft-spoken stream of flawless thoughts. I spent most meetings trying very hard to keep up, mainly failing, and that time was intellectually precious to me. He topped this with great support and career advice, but Jon was also really funny: at a recent seminar here in Oxford he presented the most impressive cutting-edge neuroscientific findings and accompanied them all with the dead-pan statement "At heart I am just a cognitive psychologist". I did a double-take and wrote that down. But what remains most vivid for me is the kind man. His warmest wishes when my son was born reminded me that the only time he stopped my ramblings during supervision was to say "Ok, now I have to go and pick up my son". The loss of Jon seems unfathomable. I hope that celebrating his life through all our memories will bring some solace to his family as well as to us all.