OBITUARY: DON GRIBBLE: FEBRUARY 10, 1936 TO NOVEMBER 18, 2020 The founding editor of Batteries International passed away in November. As a pioneer of electric vehicles he led the first, ultimately unsuccessful charge into the sector. But he left a legacy that extended to more than just the creator of this publication.
The battery, the essential key to a new EV world
Bottom left: Graduation day: 1957. Bottom right: Mary and Don, two years ago at the Tower of London.
54 • Batteries International • Winter 2020/21
It is with deep sadness that we report the death of Don Gribble, almost the last figure of a generation of battery giants that dominated the industry some 30 years ago. Unlike the other greats who achieved fame through academic, technical or commercial prowess, Gribble is best remembered as the founder and firstmover of Batteries International — a magazine that would bring a fragmented and divisive battery industry sector together. Oddly for a man who spent most of his career in the administrative and technical side of things, one of Gribble’s earliest jobs after obtaining a degree in metallurgy was as a journalist on Engineering, a well respected magazine. When he left in the mid-1960s he was the editor of the Metals and Materials section. In 1960 he met his the lady who was to become his wife, Mary. It was a chance meeting — Mary and her friend had tossed a coin to see whether they would go out that evening to the Young Conservative club or Scottish dancing lessons. She lost and it was the visit to the club. She met Don, and the rest is history. Family legend is that later that evening, with Don as a partner Mary played cards so badly that she made an indelible impression. In any event, the two were hooked. They were to remain together for a lifetime. In May 1962 they married. Children followed quickly. Their first, Nick, was born the following March. Fiona came in January 1965 and Jonathan in February 1968. With a growing family to support, Gribble decided to put the world of less well paid journalism to one side. He decided to concentrate on increasing his earning power. His first step was to act as an adviser to the Aluminium Federation, the trade body, and then in 1972 he joined the Lead Development Association — better known nowa-
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