(no subject)

Reading Material:	The Mismeasure of Man by Stephen Jay Gould
	+ asst. romance novels and children's books

Dear Dr. Gould,

I know how much you enjoy your correspondence, so I have decided to write and let you know how much I have enjoyed your books and essays, particularly Times Arrow, Times Cycle: Myth and Metaphor in the Discovery of Geological Time. That one really stretched my brain in very enjoyable ways. It is a joy to read something that not only requires me to work for it, but fairly so and with great reward. I thank you for making the works of Lyell and Hutton accessible to me, and for sharing your passion and understanding (a bit of a guilty pleasure really, the odds of my developing similar quantities of either on my own, while greater now, are still nothing to bet the brownstone on. Ah well, we can't do it all.)

I would like to be able to offer you some sort of intelligent question or criticism; I'm genuinely sorry to say that none come to mind at the moment. Please accept my admiration and gratitude. I expect you will probably make do.

I had the good fortune to hear you lecture in Denver at the opening of their 'Prehistoric Journey' exhibit. Is there any way I can find out when you might be lecturing on the West Coast?

Sincerely yours,

Amanda Windsor

It's that kind of day, we're all sick, every single diaper has been poopy, and I find out my intellectual hero has died of cancer at the age of 60. I've been meaning to write him this letter for at least 3 or 4 years, now it's too late. As I look at it, perhaps this is no great crime, but it smarts badly nevertheless. It's hit me particularly hard because I happened to be in the middle of one of his books. I was just in the middle of a conversation with him dammit. I can't think of any other intellect who has so shaped how I look at the world or for whom I had greater admiration. I am so sorry that he's gone.