It is with great sadness that we inform our readers of the death of Richard Hogg at the age of just sixty-three. He had been one of the three founding editors of English Language and Linguistics and was set to continue in the role until his retirement in 2009. His death has come as a great shock. We wish to share with readers of ELL at this earliest opportunity our appreciation of, and affection for, our fellow-editor, colleague and friend.