Remembering Sean McGowan, the contributing writer whose voice shaped our industry

Sean succumbed to cancer after a two-year struggle with the illness. Sean’s wife Kerry said that he was “surrounded by family and lots of love” at his passing.

He began writing for Ecolibrium in the early 2000s when AIRAH’s official journal was brought in-house after being published externally for many years. When HVAC&R Nation was launched in 2007, Sean began writing for the new publication as well.

With both publications issued monthly, Sean was writing 20 feature articles every year, an output maintained for close to two decades.

Patient, methodical, reliable and efficient, Sean made a substantial contribution to the Australian HVAC&R industry and community.

In addition to his AIRAH work, Sean was also a successful freelance writer for several other clients, both within HVAC&R and beyond.

One of these was A. G. Coombs. After being enlisted to help with the firm’s history, A Singular Vision, Sean went on to work on the annual Building Efficiency publication.

“Sean had a unique position in our industry,” says A. G. Coombs Strategic Development Director Bryon Price, L.AIRAH.

“As a non-technically trained person, he had an extraordinary ability to correctly translate the technical complexities of building services and construction so that it made sense and was interesting to a non-technical reader.

“And over time, because he wrote about so many different projects and their technologies, he knew more about the industry, how it works and what we do than most.”

Price describes Sean as “humble to a fault”, which rings true. Sean’s approach was to allow his interview subjects and the projects themselves to tell the story. He didn’t permit his writing style to get in the way of the message or valuable information.

There’s perhaps no greater display of Sean’s humility than how he referred to himself professionally. Despite conversations around more elaborate alternatives such as “special correspondent”, Sean’s preferred title when referenced in AIRAH publications was “contributing writer”. And while he was always precise and professional when writing about technical topics, his warmth, affability and sharp wit shone through in conversation.

When he was no longer able to work, spending time with family motivated Sean and gave him something to focus on. He is survived by his wife Kerry and two teenage children.

A service in celebration of Sean’s life will be held at 11am, Wednesday, March 18, Holy Spirit Church, 120 Oban Rd, North Ringwood. This will be followed by refreshments at Bramleigh Estate, 420 Ringwood–Warrandyte Rd, Warrandyte.

For those unable to attend, the service will also be live streamed on the William Matthews Funerals website.

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