My Dear Old Friend PDL,

I couldn't let this April Fool's Day go by without remembering you on what would have been another birthday. I learned quite by accident that you have passed on - just a one line item I saw on the internet - acknowledging a donation made in your memory. I tried to find more detail - like how, what, where, when and why, but to no avail. Maybe it's best that I don't know.

Can't believe it has been so many years since I last saw you, and still find it hard to believe that you gave up all those years of hard work to get your PHD, all the years of research and teaching and publishing just gone - to buy a ranch of all things. I guess some folks just burn out sooner than others. I hope you found your ultimate calling in being a rancher, but somehow I just can't picture you castrating bulls like you said you did! I hope that one of those angry bulls didn't contribute to your demise!

I'd still like to remember you as the "nutty professor", walking down the hall in Wolfe Hall in the morning on your way to your office, pipe in mouth, nose buried in the morning newspaper, and of course the time hobbling the halls on crutches from your ice hockey mishap! And of course I'll never forget the 3 hour lunches that we used to participate in with Bobby B. and the rest of the lab crew. I have some very fond memories indeed. I still have that beautiful gold and jade circle pin that you gave me for my birthday, and still wear it often. It is one of my most treasured pieces of jewelry, and of course I think of you every time that I wear it.

So my friend, I hope you are at peace, wherever you may be. I hope that your life as a rancher was a happy one, and that it was the right decision for you. I know that the family name and wealth had little meaning to you, so I suppose that the ranch was your great escape from all of that.

Till we meet again Dear Friend......

E~~~~~