Jack Schofield obituary

Longstanding computer journalist and writer of the popular Guardian column Ask Jack

Jack Schofield, who has died aged 72 after suffering a heart attack, was one of the outstanding computer journalists of his era, a reputation he established as editor of Computer Guardian from 1985 to 1994, and maintained until the end of his life. He never stopped working, recently filing the latest of his popular Ask Jack columns for the Guardian as well as a regular Just the Basics column for Which? Computing magazine, providing a masterly full guide to the arcane intricacies of file-wrangling.

Jack's lasting legacy is invisible - improving the computer literacy of thousands of readers over decades through his painstaking advice and his inability to refuse help to anyone who sought his guidance.