Dear Joan,
It is late night here at the European Southern Observatory in Garching
bei Munich, Germany where I continue to pursue the plans for a pair of
30 meter class telescopes.
I am glad I was able to put Larry Barr in touch with you and wanted very
much to echo his message. I began my professional career at KPNO as a
Grad Student from Harvard in the summer of 1968 and learned a great deal
from your former husband as my career progressed through development of
instruments for the McMath Solar Telescope and the Mayall 4 - meter. He
also participated in the design of the instrument I flew in the
supersonic Concorde to chase the Solar eclipse of June, 1973 across the
Sahara - he would have loved to fly that airplane. He, along with Paul
Swigart in the machine shop (I still carry a whet stone he gave me)
taught me much of what I have carried through my career.
On October 8 I will attend the launch of an instrument I have helped
develop by the Space Shuttle to the Hubble Space Telescope and I will
take some time to reflect upon and honor Larry.
My sincerest condolences.
Don
Monday, July 21, 2008
LarryBarr
Dear Joan Cowell,
I don't think we ever met, but I knew Larry Cowell very well during many
of the years he worked at Kitt Peak. I first knew him well when I began
managing the Stellar Engineering Group in about 1972. He was already
regarded as one of the best designers in the Drafting Room and further
confirmed that in his work for me. He was the principal designer on
such projects as the AutoGuider for the 4-m Mayall Telescope and later
for layouts for the Next Generation Telescope. There were many others
and I valued his talents greatly. Indeed, he was our "standard" for
measuring other designers at the annual meeting for evaluating
performances, a "semi-confidential" meeting of supervisors and managers
where everyone in Engineering was considered. Larry was always one of
the best in a group of very capable people.
I always wondered if his interest in building airplanes wasn't going to
kill him first, but it didn't. He must have built good airplanes.
I left Kitt Peak (NOAO) in 1989, but it is a measure of Larry's ability
that he stayed on and even continued part-time after his own
retirement. For people like me who depended on the talents of others to
get a job done, Larry was a winner. I extend my sincere regrets for the
loss of a fine man.
With best regards,
Larry Barr
I don't think we ever met, but I knew Larry Cowell very well during many
of the years he worked at Kitt Peak. I first knew him well when I began
managing the Stellar Engineering Group in about 1972. He was already
regarded as one of the best designers in the Drafting Room and further
confirmed that in his work for me. He was the principal designer on
such projects as the AutoGuider for the 4-m Mayall Telescope and later
for layouts for the Next Generation Telescope. There were many others
and I valued his talents greatly. Indeed, he was our "standard" for
measuring other designers at the annual meeting for evaluating
performances, a "semi-confidential" meeting of supervisors and managers
where everyone in Engineering was considered. Larry was always one of
the best in a group of very capable people.
I always wondered if his interest in building airplanes wasn't going to
kill him first, but it didn't. He must have built good airplanes.
I left Kitt Peak (NOAO) in 1989, but it is a measure of Larry's ability
that he stayed on and even continued part-time after his own
retirement. For people like me who depended on the talents of others to
get a job done, Larry was a winner. I extend my sincere regrets for the
loss of a fine man.
With best regards,
Larry Barr
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Louie
I never met your dad but sure enjoyed reading his points of view on various things in his letters to the Star and it was obvious that he was a very principled individual and a great father, I'm sure. My condolences.
Louie
Louie
SteveDiane
Dear Joan:
Though we cannot know the depth of your loss, we still share some of the real pain. Larry's impish smile that accompanied his shared insights, deep and appreciated as they were, will remain etched in our memory for quite a while, I am sure. I (Steve) came to a much deeper appreciation of the quality of the man when I spent an extended lunch period with him during one of the CFI Board meetings in the patio area near the Tucson Chamber of Commerce. I saw then that Larry was a large cut above the run-of-the-mill animal rationalis.
Larry showed me that day, particularly, the truth of what my mom and dad taught me early on: 'still water runs deep.' So we will remember him fondly as we sympathize with you in your great loss. We trust that the good memories of a truly fine man will help you shoulder bravely the heavy loss that nature has forced on you.
Hoping to see you soon,
Steve and Diane
Though we cannot know the depth of your loss, we still share some of the real pain. Larry's impish smile that accompanied his shared insights, deep and appreciated as they were, will remain etched in our memory for quite a while, I am sure. I (Steve) came to a much deeper appreciation of the quality of the man when I spent an extended lunch period with him during one of the CFI Board meetings in the patio area near the Tucson Chamber of Commerce. I saw then that Larry was a large cut above the run-of-the-mill animal rationalis.
Larry showed me that day, particularly, the truth of what my mom and dad taught me early on: 'still water runs deep.' So we will remember him fondly as we sympathize with you in your great loss. We trust that the good memories of a truly fine man will help you shoulder bravely the heavy loss that nature has forced on you.
Hoping to see you soon,
Steve and Diane
Xavier
Dear Jennie,
Of course we were already very saddened by your previous email and hoping that a following email would not come too soon and that Larry would go without pain or suffering. I am sorry it was not that way.
Just today cleaning my desk I found a two page memo that Larry wrote and gave me to read last March when I last saw him. Is titled "A different way to look at gravity" by Larry Cowell in the year 2004. But it also has sections that he continued on 2005 and in 2007. A two pager that he kept working on for two years!
The memo is illustrative of one of Larry´s biggest strengths: his endless sense of curiosity about the world and the universe. He was always willing to learn and ask questions, and look for answers for himself in a very logical and reasonable manner.
I have not seen that in many human beings his age. My sample size is quite small too, but as humans grow older we tend to become more cynical about life in general. That is just part of human nature I thought. However, the highest quality human beings I have met, such as a few great scholars with whom I have spent some time, are just as Larry. They are like little kids with an endless sense of curiosity.
Larry never showed his age and I just wish I had the chance to meet him when he was much younger (physically). I will keep the memo as it reminds me of what it was like to have a conversation with him. But also because I would like to use it for teaching. I would like to show to future students that it does not matter what your age is or whether you consider yourself an "authority" or not in the subject. What really matters to keep going forward is how curious you are about the issue.
It cheered me up a bit to remember that after reading the letter I called him to let him know that I found his explanation reasonable and insightful. He seemed encouraged by that.
Xavier
Of course we were already very saddened by your previous email and hoping that a following email would not come too soon and that Larry would go without pain or suffering. I am sorry it was not that way.
Just today cleaning my desk I found a two page memo that Larry wrote and gave me to read last March when I last saw him. Is titled "A different way to look at gravity" by Larry Cowell in the year 2004. But it also has sections that he continued on 2005 and in 2007. A two pager that he kept working on for two years!
The memo is illustrative of one of Larry´s biggest strengths: his endless sense of curiosity about the world and the universe. He was always willing to learn and ask questions, and look for answers for himself in a very logical and reasonable manner.
I have not seen that in many human beings his age. My sample size is quite small too, but as humans grow older we tend to become more cynical about life in general. That is just part of human nature I thought. However, the highest quality human beings I have met, such as a few great scholars with whom I have spent some time, are just as Larry. They are like little kids with an endless sense of curiosity.
Larry never showed his age and I just wish I had the chance to meet him when he was much younger (physically). I will keep the memo as it reminds me of what it was like to have a conversation with him. But also because I would like to use it for teaching. I would like to show to future students that it does not matter what your age is or whether you consider yourself an "authority" or not in the subject. What really matters to keep going forward is how curious you are about the issue.
It cheered me up a bit to remember that after reading the letter I called him to let him know that I found his explanation reasonable and insightful. He seemed encouraged by that.
Xavier
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