From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on inbox.vuxu.org X-Spam-Level: * X-Spam-Status: No, score=1.5 required=5.0 tests=DATE_IN_PAST_12_24, LOCALPART_IN_SUBJECT,RCVD_IN_MSPIKE_H2 autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Received: (qmail 24425 invoked from network); 1 Feb 2023 20:38:50 -0000 Received: from smtp2.mta.ca (198.164.44.75) by inbox.vuxu.org with ESMTPUTF8; 1 Feb 2023 20:38:50 -0000 Received: from rr.mta.ca ([198.164.44.159]:40786) by smtp2.mta.ca with esmtp (Exim 4.80) (envelope-from ) id 1pNJsM-00013v-MT; Wed, 01 Feb 2023 16:38:38 -0400 Received: from majordomo by rr.mta.ca with local (Exim 4.92.1) (envelope-from ) id 1pNJr2-0006RZ-Qr for categories-list@rr.mta.ca; Wed, 01 Feb 2023 16:37:16 -0400 From: Robin Cockett To: categories net Subject: categories: Bill Lawvere ... Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2023 05:40:24 +0000 Accept-Language: en-US Content-Language: en-US Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Precedence: bulk Reply-To: Robin Cockett Message-Id: Bill Lawvere touched many of our lives and, indeed, he more than touched mi= ne! He helped me through a difficult period and a change of direction. In = particular, he wrote a reference letter to promote me as a potential postdo= c for the Australian category theory seminar. In it he described me as "an= Englishman of Australian descent" ... this, I can but think, decisively s= old me to the Sydney group! I joined the Australian Category Theory group in 1989 with high hopes of wo= rking with Bob Walters on distributive categories. However, I arrived at a= time when the always colorful relation between Bob Walters and Max Kelley = was "off" and obtained a very human lesson in the politics of personalities= . Fortunately, Ross was my (personality free!) supervisor and my time in = Sydney was absolutely formative. I learnt a lot from both Bob and Max -- s= eparately -- (and Ross). It was there, for example, that I started my long= collaboration with Robert Seely. Here, of course, I am acknowledging my great debt to Bill for the inimitabl= e sales job that got me to Australia! I had got to know Bill almost exclusively through the conferences and meeti= ng which made up the category theory community in the 1980s. His energy am= azed me. He (and, indeed, Steve Schanuel) chatted so openly about their in= exhaustible ideas with such enthusiasm and energy: how could one not belie= ve that their ideas were important? Bill's talks always overflowed with enthusiasm -- although sometimes not wi= th commensurate clarity. Once, after a talk at FMCS, which clearly had lef= t his audience in the dust, Bill turned to me with the expectation that I w= ould ask a question -- I recall I struggled but obliged. How could I let = Bill down? To me Bill was always a person to whom I could talk. He seemed = to be at his very best talking to small intimate groups and in one-on-one s= ituations. And did he like to talk mathematics ... The last time I saw Bill was in Aviero (CT2015) and I sat with him at the c= onference dinner and we chatted: some of that fire and shear energy by tha= t time was gone ... but I treasured the chance to quietly reconnect. [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]