I first met Bob and AJ in the fall of 1974 when I came to the Eastern Shore to look form housing prior to my transfer to the Oxford Lab from the Great Lakes. They were kind enough to host me at their home and thus began a friendship both personal and work related that lasted for 50 years.
During to ensuing years Dr. Bob and I planned many field trips for the MSU group who came to enjoy the Shore and to collect specimens for their work at MSU. The principals included Dr T Wayne Porter (Bob's major professor and mine later on), Dr Dickie Snyder a classmate of Bobs, Dr. Max Hensley and an assortment of graduate students. We collected at the NMFS laboratory in Beaufort SC, the NWR at Cape Charles, Assateague National Seashore, the outer banks and the back bays behind Ocean City. Our accommodations were not 4-star, but we enjoyed ourselves and our time in the outdoor world.
Later Bob encouraged me to pursue a Ph.D., and I was accepted at MSU with those listed about as members of my Committe. After several years of spending weekends sleeping in a tent at Assateague National Seashore from late March through early October, I had gathered enough data to begin my analysis of the impacts of different uses of the seashore on the abundance and distribution of Ghosts Crabs. Being a procrastinator, it took a significant amount of prodding by Bob, but the objective was reached.
Later when Bob became the head of the NOAA Chesapeake Program, he suggested that I think about becoming the Science Advisor to the Living Resource Subcommittee. We visited the Subcommittee Chair and Bob Convinced her that I was the person for the job. I spent many years working in Annapolis helping the Bay Program grow and mature.
Later Bob and AJ were kind enough to host my wedding to Christian at their home on Harris Creek. It was a small ceremony, but one Christian and I will remember always for their kindness.
Bob and AJ both had a significant impact on my life during the years of our friendship and I will be eternally grateful.
