Dear Miri: Thanks very much for your very thoughtful CCP4 post. Since I was one of his last (and perhaps least) postdocs, I felt a bit self-conscious and inadequate initiating discussion. I am very grateful to you for doing so.
I would like to point out, for those who are interested, that Ken Holmes (a close colleague of Aaron’s) recently published an excellent and definitive biography entitled "Aaron Klug: A Long Way from Durban." It is extremely well-written, accurate and comprehensive. I got ahold of it here: https://www.amazon.com/Aaron-Klug-Long-Durban-Biography/dp/1107147379/ref=mt_hardcover Aaron's many contributions to our field included pioneering work on virus structures, which began in collaboration with Rosalind Franklin, structures of tRNA, the nucleosome, a ribozyme, discovery of zinc finger transcription factors and of course 3D image reconstruction. He initially learned crystallography from R. W. James in Cape Town. He also made contributions to many aspects of crystallography, including direct methods and heavy-atom phasing. From my personal perspective, he was truly an exceptional mentor. Despite obligations that included directorship of the MRC-LMB and then Pres. of the Royal Society, he always had time and a keen interest in what each of us in his small group was doing. When I first arrived (in 1993), I was supposed to work on a structure of a zinc finger/RNA complex, but he quickly deduced that my heart was still invested in getting a ribozyme structure, which I had struggled with for several years previously. He immediately appreciated its significance and encouraged me to make a fresh start of it, which eventually succeeded. At about the time I got the ribozyme phasing to work, my mother, back in Chicago, was treated for lung cancer. Aaron was very supportive and encouraged my frequent trips home to visit. When she recovered, he hosted her (along with me) for lunch in London at the Royal Society, which she (and I) greatly enjoyed and appreciated. (Perhaps because of this in some small part, she beat the odds and survived.) It remained one of her fondest memories. I last saw Aaron about 10 years ago when I gave a presentation at the LMB, and he was still very much engaged and helpfully critical of our work. His extraordinary intellect, informed by his remarkable dignity and humanity, is as much a legacy as his many exceptional contributions to science. Yours sincerely, William G. Scott Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and The Center for the Molecular Biology of RNA University of California at Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, California 95064 USA http://scottlab.ucsc.edu > On Dec 5, 2018, at 5:07 AM, Miri Hirshberg > <000002897e8e9f0f-dmarc-requ...@jiscmail.ac.uk> wrote: > > Weds., Dec. 5th 2018 > London > > > Prof. Klug died November 20th, 2018, and was buried on November 26th > in Cambridge, UK. > https://www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/aaron-klug-1926-2018/ > > He was among the founders of Structural Biology as we know it today. > > The title of his 1982 Nobel Prize lecture > > 'From Macromolecules To Biological Assemblies' > > sums part of his vast body of scientific work, from X-ray > crystallography to EM, nucleic acid structures to the Human Genome > Project. He also was a supporter of the PDB and the work carried out in > PDBe. > > I was privileged to have met him personally, over cups of tea, > both at Stanford California and in the LMB. His brilliant > scientific mind went hand in hand with his pleasant,civilised, > sometimes funny and immensely interesting persona. > > It is never too late to pay respects. > May he rest in peace > > Miri Hirshberg > > > > ######################################################################## > > To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: > https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1 ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1
