Tracing the past through technology

Sir, – It is not often that I read the Business+Technology section of The Irish Times, but last Thursday (June 14th) Karlin …

Sir, – It is not often that I read the Business+Technology section of The Irish Times, but last Thursday (June 14th) Karlin Lillington’s article, “Technology nurtured my special bond with my father” struck me dearly. Perhaps it is because I celebrated my 70th birthday recently and could not negotiate the Internet’s amazing resources for my historical research without my children, and that my daughter in Melbourne, Australia, is as much involved in all our doings as those in Dublin.

It is a lovely warm article of memories garnered and saved, and the autobiographical treasures of her father discovered (we used to say “in old attics and drawers” – but now she refers to finding them “in his old computer files”).

So, indeed, all our worlds of communications have changed, but I would safely say that communication on all our fronts has been increased and deepened, and Karlin Lillington’s lovely memoir and musings have captured some precious thoughts of life. – Yours, etc,

JIM COOKE,

Marley Avenue,

Rathfarnham,

Dublin 16.