Tribute
board to get things done, and her sense of fun and good humour, were qualities that she will be fondly remembered for.
DAN LISTER, FSLL, REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVE AND COUNCIL MEMBER, CIBSE YORKSHIRE Having heard a lot about her, I finally met Liz in person in 2014. At this time she was president elect of the SLL and following a long day of committee meetings convention would dictate a number of us would retire to the pub in Balham for a small tipple before dispersing home. Liz would muse on what her presidential year should comprise. I recall one such evening when she decreed, with a cheeky grin (which I grew to know meant trouble) 'we' should do something 'big' to celebrate the Unesco International Year of Light… but what should that be? There were lots of crazy ideas, lots of downright silly ideas, lots of laughs, but out of this smelting pot came the genesis of what became known as the Night of Heritage Light and before the band of lighters separated for our different trains north we had all willingly accepted the King's (or rather Queen's) Shilling.
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March/April 2021
While the majority would put such ideas down to 'pub banter' to be forgotten by bedtime, this was not Liz. The two hour(ish) journeys home from London offered time for contemplation and to plot; emails continued to flow as we began to sober. Liz often struggled with insomnia and by morning a fully formed plan of attack had been created as to how to convert pub chatter into reality. Cheeky and tenacious, with an infectious enthusiasm for whatever she put her mind to she had the incredible ability to pull people into her slipstream. Most people would have been content to finish on the spectacular high of NoHL, but not Liz. She was determined that NoHL should have a 'legacy', so she soon had us back in the pub… plotting how we could take it on tour to the regions and increase the opportunity for more SLL members to get involved as well as reach the next generation of designers. We decided on her (and my) beloved Yorkshire, attaching ourselves to the Illuminating York festival in 2016 to deliver NoHL#2: lighting two scheduled monuments (Liz leading the design for one) for the evening pre-festival. But our main event was to deliver the Pockets of Light (PoL) Stem initiative. This had a group of volunteers going into four schools, spreading the word about light and lighting design, as well offering each a site and the opportunity for the students to design a lighting installation for the festival, to be delivered by SLL members. It was in this context that you often saw Liz at her best; with a presentation style that was relaxed, captivating her audience with infectious enthusiasm, whether they be a class of 10-year-olds or a room full of seasoned professionals. Liz was incredibly proud of her work, none more so than the fantastic Lux Award-winning Iron Bridge. A long-running project that was forged from Liz's passion for lighting and an inner drive to do the right thing and do it right. We had joked for years that there was a book's worth of stories gathered through the journey to lighting the bridge, but at the very least we knew we would get an entertaining evening's presentation. As recently as Christmas we had been in discussions to finalise
a date when she could share the story with us. Liz was a warm, open, generous friend who wore her heart on her sleeve, and had a natural gift for telling a story well. She pined for a time where she could meet her 'Light Minded' friends and regale us all with the tales of the bridge that was finally lit. Liz, you leave a huge hole in our lighting heart.
JON ESTELL, MSLL, HEAD OF SPECTRAL LIGHTING UK We need more people like Liz Peck in this world. She was kind, trustworthy, loyal, sincere, a constant in a madly changing world. And she was always giving without a hint of ego. Liz and I worked at Concord in what are often called the ‘glory days’ when the great and sorely missed design director Janet Turner tirelessly championed lighting design, which back in the late 1990s was hardly recognised. Janet’s influence resonated with us both (we spoke about it often) and was manifest in Liz’s passion for lighting and her desire to better educate the world in best practice for lighting design. Liz always talked with pride about her work for the SLL. But above all she had a warmth that endeared many. Ask anyone in the lighting industry and I doubt they will not have heard of Liz Peck. She made friends easily and talked with enthusiasm and spirit. She likened the lighting industry to a family. And when a family loses a loved one we mourn their passing but celebrate their impact on our lives. Perhaps my favourite memory of Liz more recently was when she greeted Simon Fisher and I in Shrewsbury with an incredibly generous cheque for a Land's End to John O’Groats charity bike ride that Simon and I were undertaking as the ‘Lightly Lads’. The lighting community had been incredibly supportive and Liz was instrumental in promoting the cause. She was determined to hand over the cheque in person and was absolutely glowing with pride. The beaming smile she had when presented with a sponsor's jersey with ‘LPA Lighting’ on the front was the first photograph I looked at when I heard of her passing. Light up heaven Liz.
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