The World of California and American Linguistics, as well as the field of linguistics worldwide, lost an important and beloved figure with the recent passing of William Bright. Bill was a native Californian, born in Oxnard on August 13, 1928, to a father, Oliver Bright, who was a butcher and chicken farmer and a mother, Ethel Ruggles Bright, who was a homemaker and a lover of flowers. He died of a brain tumor near his home in Boulder, Colorado, on October 15,2006. He is survived by his wife, linguist Lise Menn, his daughter, author Susie Bright, stepsons Joseph Menn and Stephen Menn, granddaughter Aretha Bright, and two step-grandchildren.