The Appalachian Trail, February, 1974
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While I was a graduate student at the University of Georgia, I managed to squeeze in hiking about 100 miles of the Appalachian Trail. This brief page is a collection of photographs taken during one of the segments. Most of the others were done in conjunction with the Boy Scouts for whom I served as Assistant Scoutmaster. Thomas Lee Housley and I began our Ph.D. studies in the Fisher lab at about the same time and also finished at about the same time. (I had previously spent a year working as an ecology student.) Working in close quarters for long hours and sharing the uncertainty of the future contributed to camaraderie between us. Tom was gracious and lent a helping hand both in the lab and outside. A good guy. I left for a postdoctoral associateship in Biochemistry at Michigan State, and Tom, in Agronomy at the University of Wisconsin. Later, Tom took a position at Purdue, where he remained for his career, contributing in many ways. I remember so well the joy we shared when he called he to inform me of his appointment! I left Michigan State and worked at Washington University in St. Louis, first as a Research Instructor in Pharmacology and then as an Assistant Professor in Biology. In 1980, I joined the faculty at Florida State, where I remained for my career. Distance, overwhelming responsibilities, and time separated us. The last meaningful time that we had together was at Purdue in the mid 80s, where he had invited me to speak. I lodged with Peggy and him, and it was a good time, even in the midst of a house remodel! I profoundly regret that I did not do more to keep our friendship current. It is too late now; Tom died December 30th, 2016. RIP, Tom, you will be missed. Postscripts. At the right time, I will add comments below to flesh out (cf. Prof-002) some of the days I spent with Tom (1970-1974). ***That year, the annual meeting of the American Society of Plant Physiologists (renamed in 2001 to American Society of Plant Biologists) was held in Minnesota. The lab budget could afford to send only one graduate student, and Tom was up for it. To enable me to go, Tom used what would have been his air fare to drive his truck. Twenty-four hours each way. That's a sacrifice I can't forget, an experience I could not have had save Tom. On the return trip through Chicago, we were verbally assaulted and threatened by a group of men. I had never known that I might be hated for the color of my skin and the provenence of a license plate. Perhaps I wouldn't go as far as saying that it was life-altering, but it was an excellent lesson. A person can learn from bad examples as well as from good ones. I had a similar epiphany a few years later in a communal bathroom in a campground in Iowa. Two men, obviously acquainted, were shaving a few sinks apart, so their voices carried. They were complaining, no holds barred, about being kept awake by Indians. (The campground was near a reservation, I understood, presumably the Meskwaki.) Why would someone be prejudiced against Native Americans, I wondered. I didn't know it was a thing. Now, I understand the problem is generic, "other." ***Ha. Streaking was a short-lived rage that swept across campuses, including the University of Georgia, in the early-mid 70s. It took many forms generally some blend of rebellion, provocation, and narcisscism. It might be the lone naked male who would run across a football field during play, or the naked girl who walked up to Dr. Robert Bandurski (Michigan State University, PRL) and asked for change while he was lecturing, but it was often a herd event. Groups, tilting largely male, ran across campuses, sometimes with notification aforehand, so large crowds of anxious spectators were generated along the path. It was thus that Tom, Larry, and I mingled with a raucous crowd along Baxter Street early one evening. As they say, you don't make this up. ("Larry" is A. Lawrence Christy, a postdoc in the Fisher Lab. Larry earned his Ph.D. with Carrol Swanson, Ohio State. Larry did some wet chemistry in the lab (showing up as a co-author on my 2d paper), but mostly devoted his time to mathematical modeling to test the Munch Pressure Flow Hypothesis. Ernie Jaworski (of Round-Up fame) hired Larry as a Project Leader at Monsanto. Larry remained there for many years before moving to the East Coast and becoming an entrepreneur.) ***I know that I should not comment when it reflects so negatively on me, but there are just too many opportunities. One year, the ASPP meeting was held in Baton Rouge. We all agreed that it would be a good idea if Tom and Peggy would drive down from Purdue and meet Nedra and me in Vicksburg at some settled hour. (There were no cell phones, then.) I was really looking forward to the tour of the Vicksburg National Military Park. About two hours south of St. Louis, we realized that we had left a hanger of clothes. That was a moment not to be forgotten. There was no choice. Of course, we were about four hours late. Peggy and Tom were magnanimous though it would have been understandable had they not been. Because of their spirit, I had a wonderful, wonderful time. I walked, I think, every inch and studied every placement while my three companions followed me in an air conditioned vehicle and waited for me at the stops.
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Drinking from the spring that gives rise to the Chattahoochee River (top left). Repairing feet with moleskin (top right). |
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| Tom surprised me at lunch the first day, in a good way. Note the beer on the table, upper right. He had packed in two beers, one for each of us. I'm sure this violates some special code, but not mine. | |
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| Ha. Though it was not to last, I still fit into my fatigue five-plus years after my ETS, upper left. | |
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