We have heard of the sudden and tragic passing of author Michael Wessels, Chairperson of the Department of English in the Faculty of Arts at the University of the Western Cape, on Friday April 13th. He was a meticulous scholar and one of the early researchers pioneering the field of the !Xam narrative through the Bleek and Lloyd archive. He was a generous and helpful peer reviewer and a wonderful teacher and empathetic friend and colleague. His contribution not only to the scholarly community will be sorely missed; but more so, his generosity of spirit to others. Our thoughts are with his family and friends during this painful time.