John Voorhees, writing at MacStories:

I have some sad news to share with the MacStories community. Recently, Alex Hay, the developer of Toolbox Pro and other apps, passed away after a battle with cancer. [...]

The news of Alex’s passing reached us just as Federico and I were finalizing our plans for Automation April, leaving us shaken. Our reactions were the same: to use Automation April, an event that brings all corners of the Apple automation community together to remember and honor Alex’s memory.

So, with his family’s blessing, we’re dedicating Automation April 2023 in memory of Alex Hay, a brilliant and beloved member of the automation community who was taken from us far too early at the age of 36. MacStories is also making donations to the American Cancer Society and Cancer Research UK in Alex’s name, and we’d love it if you would join us in making a donation using the links above too.

If you’re ready for a gut punch, here’s Hay on Reddit just a few weeks ago, lamenting the too-far-in-the-future release date for the upcoming game Starfield. Fuck cancer.

I can’t say I knew him well, but I’d interacted with him a few times, and know he was a longtime DF reader. His apps Toolbox Pro and Logger for Shortcuts are my two favorite Shortcuts utilities. (I’ve always been a printf() debugger and that’s what Logger enables for Shortcuts hacking.)

Dedicating MacStories’s annual Automation April in Hay’s honor is a splendid idea, as is using it to raise money for cancer research.