Thank you, Ann

I enjoyed the great privilege of knowing Ann Elder.

I read in a novel that members of some southwest Native American tribe (Navajo? Hopi?) have a notion of the "valuable man." I don't know if this is true, but it is one of those ideas so good it ought to be true. The valuable man is not just economically valuable, but serves his community as an example of the good, the ethical, the honorable. He improves those around him by his actions, his words, and just by his nature. This notion fits Ann to a "T". Okay, with the obvious exception of her sex. We've lost a valuable woman. We were lucky to have her, but she has left a hurting void in her community.

I sometimes talk to my dead friends. I told Ann last night, "Hey, the moon is still beautiful." This morning I said, "The stellars jays are still hungry, and raucous, and rude, and fun to watch." This afternoon: "Cumulus clouds are moving in from the west. Looks like it might snow. We could sure use it; been awful dry. You got weather where you are?"

I like science, and I admire scientists. I like to read about science, talk and argue and think about science. I think of this as nibbling around the edges of science. Ann, on the other hand, loved to *do* science. She didn't nibble. She took great, huge, dripping bites. I'm not qualified to judge. I'm told she was very, very good at it.

I'll miss picking her brain. What a nice brain! My mind is a blunt instrument. Hers was a very sharp tool. I like to argue with folks. It's one of my favorite ways of learning. Ann picked up on this right away, and she would cheerfully play along. Even in the midst of a vociferous argument there was, on her part, an undercurrent of kindness. Not defensiveness, not "win win win!", but kindness. In my experience, in such circumstances such an undercurrent is vanishingly rare.

I'll miss Ann's use of language. It wasn't just that she spoke in complete, grammatically correct sentences. Get her going on something she found important, and out would flow a string of well organized, closely argued paragraphs with topic sentences and thematic development. This was apparently off the top of her head. She was just amazing.

I'll miss her smile and big hug when I'd show up unannounced on her doorstep saying "Hi, I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd drop by for a couple of days. What's for dinner? Stop growling, Cedar."

I'll miss her a lot. It was a privilege to be her friend. I guess I've already said that. I'd say it again a thousand times, because it is a thousand times true.

Dave Mills

Guffey Colorado