We were saddened recently by the death of Gene Golub, my husband Roy’s post-doctoral adviser at Stanford. A brilliant scientist, but more a people person, genuinely interested in people, who gave each person the impression that he thought they were really interesting, and unique. And of course, he did. Giving people this gift of attention brings out what is really interesting in them; you feel yourself coming alive, becoming more interesting.
I thoroughly enjoyed our dinners and conversations with Gene. In the moving memorial website, it seems hundreds of others, treasured their friendships with him.
http://genehgolub.blogspot.com
On reaching mid-life, I grow more convinced, that what you are as a person matters far, far more than anything you achieve. Many mathematicians have died, few have received the genuine outpouring of grief, and the accolades for what they were as a human being that Gene has received.
Give me knowledge, a seeker cries in Christina Rossetti’s poem
But he learns
“That all is small, save love,
For love is all in all.”