I was so saddened to hear of Mike’s passing. Mike was one of two faces and voices (and what a voice!) I remember clear as a bell from my first nervous days at university. The whole concept of university was alien and unknown to me, and yet in that first week I was inspired firstly by our Dean, Phil Cosker, enthusing us with words of inspiration and adventure, then in my very first lecture, where the proper work started, with Mike.  Mike gave us such a gentle and informative introduction to media studies, the gravitas of his words holding us as we sat in what seemed the huge expanse of the Jackson Lecture Theatre. As incidental as it sounds, the fact he often lectured with a coffee cup in his hand put me at instant ease; his relaxed and confident approach created a similar atmosphere in the room. I was fortunate enough to have Mike as my seminar tutor for the sessions linked to his lectures, and it felt like a brush with celebrity to go from that large space to a much smaller group with him, in a particularly sunny corner of the Alfred Tennyson Building (back then, the library building). Mike was a constant throughout my time on my undergraduate degree, from that very first lecture, right the way through to my third year. My dissertation was intimidating, and I felt I’d found my groove with it finally in the weeks leading up to the deadline. What I wasn’t expecting was for my dissertation to be one of ‘the tricky ones’ when it came to marking, a process I have become very familiar with in my own career since. My tutor told me that he had given it a 2.1, but the second marker had given it a 2.2, which meant it went to a third marker for final arbitration. That third marker was Mike, and I was astounded to hear that he loved my work, and had given it a first, and as third marker, his word was final.  At the time, I was part of a pair editing the degree show videos. This was proving very stressful, in the days where digital editing required a large machine, multiple tape decks and as many desk fans as you could point at the back of the technology as you could find. As Part 1 was playing in that very same lecture theatre to the staff and students of the whole school, Part 2 was ‘printing to tape’, meaning it took as long as the video itself to record out of the edit suite. We had one shot to get the video to the theatre before the end of the intermission. Fortunately we did it, and I finally relaxed a little in the atrium after it was all over, no doubt looking a clammy mess after baking in the edit suite for most of the day. Out of nowhere, Mike approached me, suited and booted, plastic glass of red wine in one hand, shook my hand with the other, and congratulated me on my dissertation. It was a magic moment and one that I will always remember, that coming of full circle from that first lecture, through to what I didn’t think possible, a dissertation that was well thought of by that very first voice of university I had known. He was excited by my work and we talked about it for a good ten minutes, which felt so special. I don’t think he realised the part he played in helping me get to that point. In the years since, I began my own teaching career and got to know Mike in a different way, and he was always encouraging, always able to burst the pomposity and stuffiness of the labyrinthine higher education culture with a pithy comment here and there, and always a very human face of the school. In fact, to me he was the face of my university education, for which I am forever grateful.

Very sad to hear about Mike's passing. I only knew him from the point of his move with the University to Lincoln, but to me, he was a fundamental figure in the Media School and its different iterations across the years. My memories of him are, and will always be that he was a very kind and supportive colleague, who, teaching with him on modules in the early Lincoln days, opened my eyes to the aesthetics of photography and the craft of film. He was a generous teacher, very much admired and trusted by students and colleagues alike. In later times, he demonstrated a real deftness of touch for firm, but generous and thoughtful School management. He was sorely missed when he retired, and he will be sorely missed now.

It was a real privilege to work with Mike in the School of Film and Media. He was always smiling, and so kind. Generous with his time, supporting all colleagues and students. We were fortunate to have had a wonderful colleague in Mike. Mike was full of pride for Tracey and Annie, and often used to update me on the latest book Annie was currently reading. Rest in peace Mike.