I'm a former Colgate University faculty member in geography, 1975-80. My former colleague Ted Herman passed away recently at nearly 100 years of age. I had hoped to be at the memorial May 13 in Hamilton, but the demands of my business and the distance between us make that impossible.

My association with Ted Herman began at my job interview in spring of 1975. I was pleased to join the faculty, and my five years in Hamilton were good ones.

Others will praise Ted's professional accomplishments and gentle demeanor. One of my most salient memories of Ted comes from the college athletic fields. During my first two, possibly three, years on campus, we fielded a faculty team in the fall intramural soccer season. While most of the players were in their late 20s and 30s, Ted at 63-65 was our senior defensive tiger. I can still recall the faces of the students who, thinking they had encountered an easy mark in "the old man" had their expectations dashed, when Ted would retreat and retreat and then cobra-like take the ball away from them and send it back toward the opposite goal. As one whose age has now advanced to the same age range, I can only imagine still being able to do as well on the field of play.

Ted was also pleased to tease me mercilessly but with good humor when I discovered the prettiest girl I ever saw was a geography major who was at once very bright and very easy to look at and very much out of bounds. He was ever prepared with a glass of verbal cold water to fling over me.

Dinners at the Hermans' with mixtures of cooking styles and often-exotic vegetables direct from the garden were a highlight of my times with Ted and Evelyn. Their lives reflected the the trials and transcendence of their times.

Ted's ability to help one find the answers to difficult questions within oneself have over the years let me be prepared for the occasional slings and arrows and occasionally to pass those perspectives on to others.

My best wishes to attendees; thanks for letting me share from beyond the years and the miles. And to Ted, well done.

Sincerely,
A. Rees Clark, Ph.D.