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46
THE MICHIGAN BOTANIST
Vol. 51
46 THE MICHIGAN BOTANIST Vol. 51
FIGURE 25. Boreal Flora, UMBS 1980. Photo by Gary Williams
Before heading to the Station, I had been forewarned that Ed was often
brusque. My informant, however, recommended that I not let that rough exterior
prevent me from knowing him better. Taking a cue from the 1973 film, Paper
Chase, I read much of what Ed had authored soon after arriving at the Station.
Among Ed's passions were environmental stewardship, biogeography, philology,
and nomenclature. When he interspersed those subjects throughout his lectures
and field trips, I noticed. To some taking Boreal Flora, Ed spoke in inscrutable
parables. If so, I had discovered the key to their interpretation. One merely had
to listen and anticipate what he would say next.
Ed subtly found ways to connect to his students. When discussing Clintonia,
he would typically ask a student from New York State (were one present) to remind the rest of the class who DeWitt Clinton was. Such a seemingly random
question about an Empire State governor makes greater sense in light of the alternate name of the Erie Canal; Clinton's Ditch. While on a joint collecting trip
to Round Island, soon after hearing that I had a year of Greek as an undergraduate, he immediately proceeded to quote (in Greek!) the beginning of the Gospel
of John. Fortunately, Professor Stockin had covered that material, thus by the
time Ed had reached "icpog zov Oeov," I recognized the quotation.
Ultimately, my habit of listening closely to what Ed said (and sometimes enduring a pun or a rant on the literal interpretation of a phrase or road sign) would
pay off when he became my dissertation chair. By that summer's end, meanwhile, I was fully established in the flora of northern Michigan, increasingly
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