32
Perhaps the hallmark of our collaboration is our strong friendship and our growing
to know and work together so easily that, as our wives like to point out (and as many
of our friends and colleagues have observed), the two of us fi nish each other’s
sentences and ideas. As a result, we often have no idea of the origin of any particular
project. Projects arose from conversations where our thinking was so intertwined that
it is impossible to know who originated the idea. In fact, our families learned early
on that we would come up with some new book, meeting, or research project if left
alone for more than a few minutes. At one point, two of our children, Christian Fay
and Michelle Popper, actually plotted to not let us be alone to prevent us from coming up with a new project (by the way, they were never successful in their attempts).
In this essay, we will share anecdotes and vignettes that typify our shared careers
and show how we have worked together for over 43 years. We have left out most of
our shared science since that is refl ected in other essays in this volume and in our
scholarly publications.
1 The Start of Our Collaboration
Our collaboration started the day after Christmas 1971. Helen and Art Popper had
been living in Hawai’i for about 2.5 years. Dick, Cathy, and 2-year-old Chris Fay
came to Hawai’i around December 24th so that Dick could take up a postdoc position with Nobel Laureate Georg von Békésy. Art and Dick vaguely knew of one
another
1 but had never met. So the Poppers invited the Fays to a barbeque on
December 26th. As the saying goes, “This was the start of a beautiful friendship.”We
“bonded” almost instantly. Even before the Fays left the barbeque, we had started to
think about doing a research project at the Eniwetok Marine Biological Laboratory
in the Marshall Islands and talked about starting some joint research projects.
Dick’s lab was located in the Laboratory of Sensory Sciences while Art’s was in
the zoology building (Edmondston Hall). However, in mid-1972 Dr. von Békésy
passed away. The University then decided to somewhat broaden the scope of faculty
in Sensory Sciences and Art was invited to move his lab (to what became the Békésy
Laboratory of Sensory Sciences
2 —Fig. 1 ). Thus, we had offi ces and labs near one
another for the remainder of Dick’s stay in Hawai’i.
1 Art’s doctoral advisor, Dr. William Tavolga, had visited Princeton University and met Dick, who
was a doctoral student with Glen Wever.
2 Now the Békésy Laboratory of Neurobiology— http://www5.pbrc.hawaii.edu/bln/ .
Digression 1
It is interesting to note that Dick was the only postdoc (and only student) that
Dr. von Békésy ever had. This came as a result of a meeting between Dr. von
Békésy and Dick’s doctoral mentor Dr. E. Glenn Wever at Princeton in 1967
(they were close friends). Dr. von Békésy was interested in crayfi sh statocysts
as vestibular organs and wanted someone to examine the vestibular physiology
of these animals. Dr. Wever mentioned that he had a student (Dick) who would
be perfect for this project. Although Dr. von Békésy passed away before Dick
could complete the work, Dick continued it for several years and published his
only invertebrate papers as a result of that project (Fay 1973 , 1975 ).
A.N. Popper and R.R. Fay
Perhaps the hallmark of our collaboration is our strong friendship and our growing
to know and work together so easily that, as our wives like to point out (and as many
of our friends and colleagues have observed), the two of us fi nish each other’s
sentences and ideas. As a result, we often have no idea of the origin of any particular
project. Projects arose from conversations where our thinking was so intertwined that
it is impossible to know who originated the idea. In fact, our families learned early
on that we would come up with some new book, meeting, or research project if left
alone for more than a few minutes. At one point, two of our children, Christian Fay
and Michelle Popper, actually plotted to not let us be alone to prevent us from coming up with a new project (by the way, they were never successful in their attempts).
In this essay, we will share anecdotes and vignettes that typify our shared careers
and show how we have worked together for over 43 years. We have left out most of
our shared science since that is refl ected in other essays in this volume and in our
scholarly publications.
1 The Start of Our Collaboration
Our collaboration started the day after Christmas 1971. Helen and Art Popper had
been living in Hawai’i for about 2.5 years. Dick, Cathy, and 2-year-old Chris Fay
came to Hawai’i around December 24th so that Dick could take up a postdoc position with Nobel Laureate Georg von Békésy. Art and Dick vaguely knew of one
another
1 but had never met. So the Poppers invited the Fays to a barbeque on
December 26th. As the saying goes, “This was the start of a beautiful friendship.”We
“bonded” almost instantly. Even before the Fays left the barbeque, we had started to
think about doing a research project at the Eniwetok Marine Biological Laboratory
in the Marshall Islands and talked about starting some joint research projects.
Dick’s lab was located in the Laboratory of Sensory Sciences while Art’s was in
the zoology building (Edmondston Hall). However, in mid-1972 Dr. von Békésy
passed away. The University then decided to somewhat broaden the scope of faculty
in Sensory Sciences and Art was invited to move his lab (to what became the Békésy
Laboratory of Sensory Sciences
2 —Fig. 1 ). Thus, we had offi ces and labs near one
another for the remainder of Dick’s stay in Hawai’i.
1 Art’s doctoral advisor, Dr. William Tavolga, had visited Princeton University and met Dick, who
was a doctoral student with Glen Wever.
2 Now the Békésy Laboratory of Neurobiology— http://www5.pbrc.hawaii.edu/bln/ .
Digression 1
It is interesting to note that Dick was the only postdoc (and only student) that
Dr. von Békésy ever had. This came as a result of a meeting between Dr. von
Békésy and Dick’s doctoral mentor Dr. E. Glenn Wever at Princeton in 1967
(they were close friends). Dr. von Békésy was interested in crayfi sh statocysts
as vestibular organs and wanted someone to examine the vestibular physiology
of these animals. Dr. Wever mentioned that he had a student (Dick) who would
be perfect for this project. Although Dr. von Békésy passed away before Dick
could complete the work, Dick continued it for several years and published his
only invertebrate papers as a result of that project (Fay 1973 , 1975 ).
A.N. Popper and R.R. Fay