The name Eric Hulley, like his picture, will not be known to most readers of Liquid Crystals. He did, however, play a significant role in the creation and success of this Journal but more of that later.
Eric was born in 1932 in Wandsworth, the third member of what would prove to be a large and close-knit family of eight children. He was a precocious, clever boy who started his education at St Faith’s Primary School when just three years old. It is of no surprise therefore that at the age of 11 years he readily passed the eleven-plus examination, was awarded the only scholarship of his year and entered the prestigious Wandsworth Grammar School which had been founded in 1895. He flourished there but in 1947 at the age of 14 decided to leave which meant forgoing the School Certificate Examination, normally sat when pupils are 16.
At this young age, Eric entered the printing trade as an apprentice to Taylor & Francis, a publishing and printing company. This had been founded in 1798, the year in which they launched the Philosophical Magazine. Subsequently, it gained a strong reputation for publishing academic journals and books which continues to this day. Its offices based in London were to be found in Red Lion Court just off Fleet Street. On the front of the Company’s buildings is its colophon showing a Roman oil lamp being refilled by a single hand. The words above it read Alere Flammam that is tending the lamp, signifying the lamp of learning. This colophon in a modern format still adorns its journals such as Liquid Crystals. Eric’s indentures show that he was apprenticed to learn the ‘Art and Mystery’ of a Compositor. He proved to be well suited for this challenging task. An example of his skills was that Taylor & Francis were contracted to print the Latin and Greek Examination papers for the University of London. Each year Eric and another apprentice undertook this task with the aim of seeing who could do so without error and in the shortest time; Eric invariably won this competition.
Before he could complete his apprenticeship which should have taken seven years two events intervened. First he was called up to perform his National Service in the Royal Navy. Then after he had returned to continue his apprenticeship with Taylor & Francis when he was just 21, he was promoted to be Head of the Reading Department. This was a further clear indication of his abilities and how highly they were valued by the Company. Readers played an important role in the production of the journals, their aim being to create from the authors’ manuscript a final product which is well laid-out, accurate, internally consistent, compliant with the house-style, linguistically correct and meeting the editorial style. Over the years and working with many editors having clear views Eric, with his altruistic personality, was able to establish strong and lasting working relationships which clearly produced results adding to the high reputation of the journals.
I first met Eric when in 1977 I was appointed as the Editor of Molecular Physics, published by Taylor & Francis, a post I would hold for four years. It was a real pleasure to work with him especially as he turned out to be as good if not better than I had been told. Indeed, it was uncanny to see him look at a page of text and immediately identify any errors it contained. These were usually linguistic in nature but at times he would also spot scientific mistakes even though he had not trained as a scientist. It seems his exposure to so many scientific papers had given him a good understanding of what was to be expected. I also learnt from Eric that there were invariably good reasons for some of the procedures adopted by Molecular Physics. These included the punctuation of equations as with other parts of the text and that those changes to the proofs made by the Editor could not be overruled by the authors without just cause.
In 1985 Ed Samulski and I decided to found a new journal devoted entirely to liquid crystals taken in the widest sense. We agreed that we should ask Taylor & Francis to publish the journal and also that Eric Hulley should assist us in creating and producing it. The style of Liquid Crystals was based, with Eric’s help, on that of Molecular Physics with which he was so familiar. In particular, the service to the authors was to be paramount especially the accuracy and consistency of the papers published in the new journal; this was made possible by Eric’s skills and attention to detail. It was decided that we should publish the Proceedings of the Twelfth International Liquid Crystal Conference which was held in Freiburg in1988, coinciding with the centenary of the discovery of liquid crystals by Reinitzer as a Special Issue of Liquid Crystals. Eric came to the Conference with the two Editors and also a young Corrie Imrie who was then the Assistant Editor. Together with the two Guest Editors, they provided invaluable expertise when processing the large number of papers submitted to the Proceedings. It is interesting that later Eric predicted Corrie would be a good editor for the Journal; how right he has proved to be.
After spending 48 years working for Taylor & Francis, taking on roles of increasing importance, finally as Editorial Manager, Eric decided to retire in 1995 to spend more time with his beloved family. To mark this truly special occasion and to thank him for his essential contributions to the success of their journals, the Editors both past and present of Molecular Physics and of Liquid Crystals entertained Eric with luncheon at Imperial College London. This was a splendid occasion, reminiscent of a family-firm tradition characteristic of Taylor & Francis. It permitted much reminiscing of times past, present and speculating about what the future might hold for journals such as those published by Taylor & Francis. It clearly marked the end of an era.
Eric Hulley died unexpectedly of a severe heart attack. He is survived by his wife Rene, their two daughters Deb and Carolyn and four grandchildren Tom, Oli, Tasha and James.
