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in memoriam, and tangentially from that
Jun. 2nd, 2011 07:04 amBen Yalow's mother died. My condolences to Ben. I don't have to say may her memory be for a blessing; considering her services to medicine, it already is.
I never met Ben's mother, but I owe her thanks: she did me a favor once, in a very indirect way. My mother's understanding of this peculiar science-fiction fandom thing I was involved in reached a new plateau of enlightenment after she read a newspaper profile of Rosalyn Yalow, Ph.D. and Nobel Laureate, which extensively mentioned her son Ben and his dedication to the same activity, and how she was perhaps a little puzzled by this but proud of his achievements.
Now, at least half of what one comes across in the general media that mentions SF or fandom concerns activities or people I've never heard of or don't have anything to do with. I pretty much stopped identifying myself to strangers as an SF fan after Star Wars came out and I found that they took it as meaning an enthusiastic devotee of that movie. But while (cue Seinfeld) there's nothing wrong with that, I was not and am not that sort of fan.* Later on they might take it as meaning, say, that you thought Newt Gingrich was a pretty cool guy. (Now there is something wrong about that.)
So my mother, properly cautious, after reading the profile asked me if I'd heard of this Ben Yalow, and for once I got to say yes, I do, I've met him and conversed with him, and in my space of fandom he's a Big Name Fan and a legendary convention-runner. So, that was a good thing, and yes, I mentioned it to Ben when I next saw him.
*On the other hand, I later became part of the, oh 20% or so, of fandom-as-I-know it that, to the dismay and incredulity of the other 80%, went goshwow over Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But then, so did Ben Yalow.
I never met Ben's mother, but I owe her thanks: she did me a favor once, in a very indirect way. My mother's understanding of this peculiar science-fiction fandom thing I was involved in reached a new plateau of enlightenment after she read a newspaper profile of Rosalyn Yalow, Ph.D. and Nobel Laureate, which extensively mentioned her son Ben and his dedication to the same activity, and how she was perhaps a little puzzled by this but proud of his achievements.
Now, at least half of what one comes across in the general media that mentions SF or fandom concerns activities or people I've never heard of or don't have anything to do with. I pretty much stopped identifying myself to strangers as an SF fan after Star Wars came out and I found that they took it as meaning an enthusiastic devotee of that movie. But while (cue Seinfeld) there's nothing wrong with that, I was not and am not that sort of fan.* Later on they might take it as meaning, say, that you thought Newt Gingrich was a pretty cool guy. (Now there is something wrong about that.)
So my mother, properly cautious, after reading the profile asked me if I'd heard of this Ben Yalow, and for once I got to say yes, I do, I've met him and conversed with him, and in my space of fandom he's a Big Name Fan and a legendary convention-runner. So, that was a good thing, and yes, I mentioned it to Ben when I next saw him.
*On the other hand, I later became part of the, oh 20% or so, of fandom-as-I-know it that, to the dismay and incredulity of the other 80%, went goshwow over Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But then, so did Ben Yalow.
