machtelt bolkestein

[Kees Hengeveld]

Dear colleagues,

It is our sad task to inform you of the sudden and totally unexpected death
of our friend and colleague Machtelt Bolkestein. Machtelt passed away on
Sunday 22 October around 8 pm. At present we understand that the cause of
her death was blood-poisoning resulting from what originally seemed to be
an innocent flu.

Machtelt was a functional grammarian right from the inception of Dikkian FG.
Her many publications bear witness to her commitment to functionalist theory
in general and FG in particular: her applications to Latin were pioneering,
her contributions to theory-building meticulous. She never missed an ICFG
conference, and was actively involved in all FG activities. Machtelt was
very
much part of the FG community, organizing, editing, discussing, and, above
all,
always trying to bring people together.

The FG research group in Amsterdam, and with us functionalists worldwide,
will greatly miss Machtelt.

Casper de Groot
Kees Hengeveld
Lachlan Mackenzie