Preface

 

 

 

Many liberal arts colleges require non-science majors to take a class entitled “Physics for Poets” or something similarly whimsical. These are survey courses which typically condense the entire field of physics into a single semester for students with little background in math or science (eg, poets). While not rigorous science by a long shot, this may be the only physics exposure that some will ever get. As a self-proclaimed science geek, I never had the need to take such a class. Unfortunately for me, my dorkiness and resulting limited exposure to literature and difficulties with expressing ideas via the written word were never similarly addressed at the undergraduate level. I have always though that a course along the lines of “Poetry for Physicists” would have been very useful for someone like me. Now a middle-aged man, I have had to navigate my own path through the English language without any formal instruction, and my knowledge of literature in particular remains severely deficient. Despite these shortcomings, I have always enjoyed telling stories and have toyed with the idea of serious writing in the past. Until very recently, however, I didn’t think I had that much of interest to say, let alone the ability to say it. A couple of unexpected tragic but related and somewhat fascinating events occurred “around me” in early 2009, these experiences intensifying my desire to put my thoughts on paper, or more accurately on hard drive.

 

What follows is my attempt at telling the narrative of a time much earlier in my life that only now do I fully appreciate. I admittedly have a short attention span, so this tale has been broken down into short segments that I call “chapters”. Moments of inspiration came and went, so chronologic order is typically not respected. This effort should best be termed “creative nonfiction”, a great expression in my opinion but one for which I cannot take credit. While entirely based in fact, liberties with the truth have been taken to both simplify the writing process and to – hopefully – make reading more enjoyable. This has been quite an educational journey for me, the most important thing learned that I have had the unique pleasure of knowing some truly fascinating people with whom many meaningful moments were shared. Hopefully, what is in my head has translated well to the written word.