STILA TEG F
EDITOR'S NOTE:

A REALL Y IMPORTANT MATTER

In Memory
John Wallace

Marshall University

As editor of the Journal ofSmall Business Strategy, I try to include a small contribution
in each issue that is both important and ofinierest to the readership of the journal. The
choice of topic for this issue was extraordinarily clear: I asked Sherrie Taylor, President
of the Small Business Institute (SBI) to prepare a short piece on John Wallace, a major
contributor to both the SBI organization and the Journal ofSmall Business Strategy over
the past several years.

Steve Osborne
Editor, JSBS

There are times when we meet or work along side people who make a lasting impression
on us because of their values, work ethics, and general personality. One of those special
people was Dr. John Wallace, Marshall University. John was a member of SBIDA for
several years and a frequent contributor at conferences in both paper presentations as well
as working on the sidelines to make things happen. John passed away on August 19, 2002
in his home. He was 63 years old and is survived by his wife of 43 years, Elizabeth
(Libby) A. Beris ford Wallace, and his children.

John was one of the two Program Chairs for the first joint conference we held with
USASBE in 2000. He has been a reviewer for JSBS for a number of years. He had
volunteered to be the Proceedings Editor for our 2003 conference. Dr. Wallace served as
the SBI Director for Marshall University. One of the tributes written about him after his
death came from a former SBI client. John Grace of Publishers Place, Inc. had this to say,
"Wallace was extremely generous with his time and energy in support of a host of
worthwhile causes in and around Huntington. We will miss his wisdom and his good-
heartedness. Such genial souls who spend themselves selflessly to further this or that
aspect of the common good are all too rare. May his memory inspire his students and
others to look around them and see where their talents may be put to use to help their
communities."

As an organization, we will miss his wonderful smile and sense ofhumor. As a friend, we
will all miss his very presence. Our sympathy is with his whole family and his peers as
well as his students. In the name of the national Small Business Institute, a donation was
made to the John Wallace Scholarship Fund at Marshall University.

Sherrie Taylor
President, Small Business Institute