It is with sadness that Batteries International reports that Gerry Woolf, a batteries and energy storage journalist for more than 30 years, passed away on October 13. He was just 71 years old.

Gerry spent almost all of his life as a technical writer, editor and finally business person involved in the energy storage industry. After graduation he joined the BBC where he was trained as a journalist and he worked on the World Service radio broadcasts for several years.

In the 1990s he was recruited to work as the editor of Batteries International which he left in 2004 to set up his own magazine, Best. (Batteries & Energy Storage Technology).

Hugh Cullimore, one of the original founders behind Batteries International, recalls: “He was a fast learner and within months of joining us was fully up to speed. In total I worked with Gerry for the best part of 20 years and together we helped make Batteries International and later Best a success.”

For the next 14 years Gerry built up a small magazine business launching a Chinese title in Mandarin and a magazine on back-up power. He made unsuccessful attempts to enter the conference business but found better traction with a weekly newsletter that continues to this day.

After stepping back from day-to-day editorial duties in 2018, when he announced “a new chapter” for Best, Gerry remained non-executive chairman and continued to lend his voice and experience to the business.

In later years he faced personal medical challenges, by accounts from friends and colleagues, he approached with characteristic determination and dignity.

He was respected — and frequently feared — for his trenchant directness in getting answers to his questions.

Andy Bush, executive director of ILA, said: “Gerry was a larger-than-life figure in the industry, and while he could come across as critical, he was usually just probing a subject for greater insight, which was his passion as well as his job. He had affection for the lead battery industry and always wanted to see it succeed — a critical friend.”

Mark Rigby, managing director of UK Powertech, a firm specializing in battery formation equipment, said: “I was a friend with Gerry for over 30 years and knew him well. He was a courageous man in the way he approached life and someone to be respected for the depths of his knowledge about the battery business.”

Gerry’s legacy lives on countless issues of Best distributed around the world, in the debates he sparked, and in the network of industry relationships he helped build.

Among those who feel his influence are his former competitors and collaborators, including Mike Halls and the team at Batteries International, who respected the editorial benchmark Gerry set—even in the spirit of friendly rivalry.

Mike McDonagh, an industry veteran, battery consultant and also technical editor of Best recalls how Gerry helped him at the beginning of his writing. “I owe a lot to him personally for the way he developed my writing skills. The first time I wrote something for him he said ‘this is not good. It’s bloody good!’ but he also could be blunt comparing my writing style to Enid Blyton [a popular UK children’s author of the 1960s]. He was tough but fair.”

He leaves behind his son Oliver and his wife Catia and grandson Thomas, and many others who were touched by his mentorship, editorial leadership and willingness to engage with the international battery community.

He remains a notable figure in the battery-storage sector, whose contributions helped shape the conversation around energy storage during a period of rapid change.

An announcement of his funeral service will be made shortly.