It is with a deep sense of sadness that we announce the passing of Dr. John Van Couvering, retired from the American Museum of Natural History, long-time Editor of Micropaleontology, founder of Stratigraphy, and stalwart protector of the rules of geological time. John was quite a personality, and for decades could be seen manning the Micropaleontology Press booth at the GSA meetings. Together with Bill Berggren he authored “The late Neogene, Volume 2: Biostratigraphy, geochronology, and paleoclimatology of the last 15 million years in marine and continental sequences” (Developments in Palaeontology and Stratigraphy). John retired from Micropaleontology Press in 2016, but remained active until recently – assisting authors with their papers. John’s last contribution to Micropaleontology appeared in 2021 and was entitled “From the Archives: The Micropaleontologist Correspondents” in which he published portrait photographs of famous Micropaleontologists from the 1950s and 1960s. John was 91.