In this piece, John MacDonald offers humorous reflections on his long-time friend and colleague, S.T. “Mick” Mallon, evoking, in particular, their first meeting, and their subsequent shared involvement in several initiatives in the 1970s and ‘80s aimed at enhancing Inuktitut. The projects touched on here include the work of the Inuit Language Commission on orthographic reform, the concurrent development of the IBM “Selectric” typewriter element to accommodate a revised syllabic font (Figures 1 and 2); and finally—in response to the needs of translators—a series of colloquia to devise Inuktitut neologisms for English terms in medicine, law, non-renewable resource development, and weights and measures. For more information on Mick Mallon, the reader is directed to his obituary published in a previous issue of Études Inuit Studies.
