Tribute
March/April 2021
SLL was establishing the award-winning Night of Heritage Light while she served as president. The vision of lighting up for one night a whole series of Unesco World Heritage Sites around the country was so ambitious that most people would have been defeated by the proposition. But Liz wasn't just a talker she was a doer. She devised a plan, enlisted other lighting professionals to help and she made it happen. She was named Lux Person of the Year in 2015. Her success led to further NoHL events, this time involving schools, making the concept educational and spreading the message of lighting to a much wider public. The following tributes from those who were both friends and colleagues in the lighting sphere speaks volumes for the respect she commanded and the affection in which she was held.
SIMON FISHER, FSLL, CO-OWNER F MARK
LIGHT AND SOUL A tribute to the life of former SLL president Liz Peck who died suddenly in January Twitter: @sll100
n a very poignant piece of timing, the award-winning Iron Bridge project was featured on the cover of the previous issue of Light Lines (January/February 2021). It was the last completed scheme that Liz Peck was involved with, a collaboration with current president Bob Bohannon. The sad news of her sudden death in January at the age of 46 came as a great shock to all who knew her. That someone so full of life and passion should so suddenly cease to exist was hard to come to terms with. There is an unfillable hole in the lighting world. Liz served as SLL president from 20152016, but while that was a culmination of sorts it was just a part of the massive contribution she made to the society. Probably her finest achievement for the
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I am sat here staring at the front cover of the January/February issue of Light Lines. I feel honoured to write a few words about Liz, but desperately wish that I didn’t have to do it. Liz and I first met in 1999, when we both worked in Newhaven for Concord Lighting. At that point Liz knew literally nothing about lighting. What I saw in the next 12 months set out the stall for what defined Liz in her career. A willingness to learn, a sponge for information and a commitment to a cause. Time moved on. We created careers. We stayed in touch. In 2015, I received a call from Liz, who by then had accepted the responsibility of being the president of the SLL. This call would change my attitude to light, lighting, and life in general. Night of Heritage Light (NoHL) was one of the most audacious projects ever conceived and will remain unparalleled in my view. To work with Liz on this project was truly inspiring. She had vision. She had ability. She was driven. She was selfless, but not without self-doubt. She was committed. She didn’t suffer fools. She never entertained regret. She inspired designers and manufacturers to come together and create something exquisite… for one night only. In the face of unbelievable odds, NoHL not only happened, it was a huge success. For a brief moment in time in 2015, Liz made the impossible possible and it was such a privilege to be part of it.
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