Timely Snow

Today I was feeling depressed at some of the things I have to deal with as part of this administrative job I’ve taken on. I decided to take a walk outside and walked across the Main Diag.

Patty Stevenson, Janet Stevenson Zimmerman, and Michael Smith performed the Tom Paxton song “Ramblin’ boy.”

Andy Stevenson, Harold’s son, spoke for the family. He told a moving story of Harold’s availability as a father, including his willingness to attend U of M football games to cater to Andy’s interest without revealing Harold’s own utter lack of interest in watching football.

Richard Askey is a mathematician at the University of Wisconsin who has gotten deeply involved in issues related to school mathematics.

Jim Stigler, of UCLA, gave a more personal talk than most, describing some of his experiences with Harold as an advisor.

Lindsay Chase-Lansdale, of Northwestern University, is a good representative of the policy interests that Harold developed and supported.

Rob Kail, of Purdue, talked about how Harold infected him with an interest in photography as a graduate student, taking him along to camera shops and getting him to spend more money and time than he had to spare on photography.

Gary Olson, of the University of Michigan, talked about Harold’s influence on his life — playing a key role in bringing him to Michigan and getting him involved in research in China.

David Crystal of Georgetown University, a student of Harold, recorded a poem that captured the vitality and ubiquity of Harold’s presence and influence.

John Hagen gave an overview of Harold’s career and impact on the field of developmental psychology.