Josh was my first scientific mentor, and quickly
became a good friend as well. We always had a lot of fun in the lab -
brainstorming late into the night, and dinners that sometimes went even later.
Josh never seemed to tire. Once nearly the whole lab spent a few days and
nights working on a grant renewal, taking turns dozing in the dark room, and
then getting up to keep writing, editing, plotting graphs and so forth. When it
ended (finally!!), the whole group went out to dinner at
a Ukrainian restaurant/nightclub in Brighton Beach. The only time
during that experience when Josh lost his patience was when I suggested that we
let the waiter select a variety of dishes from the menu so we would
not have to think about what to order: Josh looked at me as if I had lost my
mind, and said, 'Jon, I can't believe it - this is the first time I ever
remember you making a decision out of sheer laziness'. I never made that
suggestion again when we went out to eat together. And we did eat together as
often as we could: at the annual vision science society meeting, we had
an annual "Blur and Brainstorming Dinner". The topics changed over
the years but the tradition kept going.
Just recently (October, 2011), Josh and
Valerie came out to San Francisco for my wedding. It meant a lot to me and my
wife that they came, and that they both seemed so happy to be travelling
together and seeing friends. That is where these photos are from - the Aquarium
at Fisherman's Wharf. My wife, who only met Josh on a handful of occasions, took
such an immediate liking to him that she almost asked him to officiate our
wedding.
I think that Josh's warmth and curiosity and respect for others
shone through in this way for so many people. We are saddened by the loss, but
at the same time happy that Josh was part of our lives, and happy that Josh and
Valerie found happiness together.
l'Autre Jonathan
(Jonathan Winawer)
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