Well-known contester, DXer, and QST and NCJ author Paolo Cortese, I2UIY, passed away from a brain aneurysm the weekend of October 11. He was 48. According to fellow contester Doug Grant, K1DG, Cortese was the "most popular competitor" at the first WRTC in Seattle in 1990.

"His big laugh and constant kidding around really made everyone smile," remembered Grant. "Everyone will tell you that he was a big man with a big heart, a big appetite for life (both literally and figuratively) and one of the biggest and most enthusiastic cheerleaders for ham radio in general -- and contesting specifically -- anywhere in the world."

Cortese served as log-checker for many contests, including the European Sprints, CQ WPX RTTY and CQWW RTTY, and was an active DX advisor to the CQ World Wide Contest Committee, translating the rules into Italian. Grant said that as manager of the Associazione Radioamatori Italiani (ARI, the Italian IARU Member-Society) QSL bureau, "every QSL card into or out of Italy via the bureau passed through Paolo's hands."

Cortese was inducted into the CQ Contest Hall of Fame in 2008. "Paolo has been a tremendous contributor behind the scenes to contesting and ham radio," said fellow inductee Randy Thompson, K5ZD. "It was an honor to be inducted into the CQ Contest Hall of Fame with him this year."

His article, "A DXpedition to Niger" appeared in the May 2002 issue of QST.