Assume many readers have already heard of the death of AMR Research analyst John Fontanella this week from a heart attack. (See Supply Chain Loses One of Its Thought Leaders, As John Fontanella of AMR Passes Away.)

Just a few additional thoughts from me.

It might be stretching it a bit to call John a good friend, as we really only interacted in a professional setting, usually at some event like a software vendor user conference. He participated as a presenter on several of our Videocasts, and I was actually in Boston not that many months ago to film two such events at AMR offices.

But nonetheless we often had great conversations where we did intersect. It may be funny to some how people in our roles can sit down and talk about supply chain trends and vendors for a couple of hours at the cocktail party at the i2 user conference or something, but that’s just what we often did.

Most supply chain/technology industry analysts have pretty big egos – it’s almost necessary for the job – but in my many interactions with John, if he had one, it certainly didn’t come through. When you are a technology vendor, and you interact with analysts, as I have done many times in previous lives, many have a tendency to try to make you feel a little stupid. 

John was a notable exception, always friendly, offering truly constructive ideas in a very positive manner, freely acknowledging new, good ideas. His straightforward demeanor I believe also allowed him to connect to supply chain practitioners better than most analysts, some of whom can come off a bit snooty. John knew his stuff but delivered it in an enjoyable way, and thus was fun to hear present.

John was under a lot of pressure in 2004 as AMR’s staff temporarily shrank a bit, and he was stretched very thin. He decided then to step away for awhile, and spent that summer sailing his boat.

He and I had a few conversations about him joining SCDigest, but we didn’t have the money it would take. He considered doing so in a more “entrepreneurial” mode – meaning, I wouldn’t pay him much to start, but he could get some equity in the company, etc. In the end, he took a more solid entrepreneurial spot, if that makes any sense, trying to get a supply chain practice going at Yankee Group, another Boston technology analyst company that had never done much in supply chain.

I was dubious the strategy had much chance of success, and sure enough Yankee shut it down not, I think, in less than a year. After a brief turn at Aberdeen, he found his way back to AMR, where he belonged, and was there of course at his death.

He recently sent me a fine compliment on a piece I had written about the economy, the bail-outs and the supply chain, saying that I “had taken the rest of the industry analysts to school” in that piece. I thanked him for the high compliment, and he responded back that it “was well deserved.”

That’s the kind of guy he was. Makes me now think I ought to be sending out more compliments for good work to others as well, because those are things people remember.

So, sad news this week. Most of you probably have never intersected with John, or at best seen him present some place, but he was a good guy who made important contributions to supply chain thinking.

I’d love your thoughts on this.