Remembering Dann Maurno

I have the sad duty to report that Dann Anthony Maurno, our assistant editor, has died after a three and a half year battle with cancer. He was 54.

Dann was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) over three years ago, right around the time he began working with our team. But in the years since, I doubt anyone he worked with here, whether professional journalists or expert contributors, knew the extent of his illness or how persistent his fight was.

Dann's family has posted his obituary, and it speaks in a much more complete way than I ever could about the type of person he was - determined, thoughtful, spiritual, playful, sincere. He was an actor, a writer in many other venues, a leather crafter (I just learned), and a humanitarian. Dann's work with MSDW was just a small fraction of his life, of course, but so many of the same traits were evident to me.

Before joining me on the editorial team, Dann had already earned his enterprise software and supply chain bona fides. He had worked extensively both on the vendor side and the media side of this industry. He had seen software and media companies come and go - bought, sold, opened, and shuttered. 

Dann shared many of my own views on the enterprise software market, including an appreciation for genuine customer successes, excitement over shiny new tech, and a healthy skepticism for overly enthusiastic press releases. He also had a deep respect for the expertise of others, and he cultivated relationships with the utmost care.