The Day the Music Died, 1959

Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson all played their last concert, which was part of the Winter Dance Party Tour, at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa. Headed out to their next gig after the show, a plane crash killed all three and the pilot, Roger Peterson, shortly after takeoff at around 1am on February 3, 1959--60 years ago today.

Musician Don McLean released the song, "American Pie," which references the tragedy, on the American Pie album in 1971. In 2017, the song was selected for the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress. The above video depicts a live performance at the BBC in 1972.

The Spirit That Moves Us Press: Morty Sklar

For those who may not know, the poet and publisher, Morty Sklar [1935-2018], died at the end of December 2018 in Jackson Heights, Queens. Morty had ridden his motorcycle out to Iowa City circa 1971, and ended up staying until 1989, when he moved back to New York City. The Common Curator met him in 1988 at a rooming house, where Morty happened to be the resident manager (the property, incidentally, was owned by W.P. Kinsella, author of Shoeless Joe, which became The Field of Dreams phenomenon). Morty was a true character, with a bottomless reservoir of stories and anecdotes, all conveyed with a pronounced New York accent that was never tempered in the slightest by nearly two decades of Iowa living. 

Morty operated The Spirit That Moves Us Press out of his then-quarters in the house, and a key element of his enterprise was a large, archaic IBM composing machine with which he electronically typeset all his books. His most notable publication was no doubt Jaroslav Seifert's The Casting of Bells (1983). In the following year Seifert won the Nobel Prize for Literature, yet was not then widely known in literary circles outside his native Czechoslavakia. Needless to say, after the prize was announced, journalists and critics from across the U.S. and abroad were scrambling to find copies of Seifert's work in English translation, and inundated Morty with book orders. Unfortunately, according to Morty's recounting, he had recently moved, and the phone company had messed up his call-forwarding request, hence he lost many potential sales as well as a good portion of once-in-a-lifetime publicity. Such are the travails of small presses! 

The Spirit That Moves Us magazine was the first thing Morty published, in 1975, and he went on to issue a number of books of poetry, fiction & essays, including: The Actualist Anthology; Nuke-Rebuke; Editor's Choice (a series); Patchwork of Dreams: Voices from the Heart of the New America; and similar collections. In addition, he published volumes by individual poets, including Seifert (several titles), local Chuck Miller, and others. His own poetry, The Smell of Life: Poems 1969-2005, was also published under the TSTMUP imprint. Morty's final book was The Ultimate Actualist Convention: A Detailed View of Iowa City Actualism in the 1970s & 1980s and Its Migration to the San Francisco Bay Area, which came out in 2017.

The Common Curator last saw Morty in the late 1990's/early 2000's at the annual Small Press Fair held in Manhattan, where they both periodically exhibited their wares after leaving Iowa. There's a lot more that could be related, of course, and for those who are interested, below are compiled various resources that touch on Morty's life and career as an author, editor, and small press publisher. He was still giving readings as of last summer, and video of that and other things can be found at his YouTube channel. 

Morty was always a New Yorker through and through, but it seemed that he nevertheless found Iowa to be fertile ground for his fertile mind, and that in the end he gave as much to the City of Literature as he harvested.

May the Spirit Move Us All in 2019!

   *  *  *  *

-- Obituary [Iowa City Press-Citizen, January 1, 2019]

-- The Spirit That Moves Us Press [established circa 1975]

-- YouTube Channel [including readings and miscellanea]

-- The Reminiscences of Morty Sklar [Phoenix House Foundation Oral History Project, Columbia University, September 25, 2014]

-- Poet & Writers Biography

-- Poetry City Actualized: A Look Back at the Birth of an Iowa City-based Literary Movement [Little Village, January 9, 2015]

-- Vibrant Tales In Small Book On Queens [New York Times article about the anthology, Patchwork of Dreams, December 7, 1996]

-- Little-Known in U.S., Nobel Poet Praised Here [New York Times article about Jaroslav Seifert, whom Sklar published the year prior, October 12, 1984]

. . . ''The Casting of Bells,'' a 64-page collection translated by Tom O'Grady and Paul Jagasich, and published in August 1983 by The Spirit That Moves Us Press in Iowa City, Iowa. Morty Sklar, who described himself yesterday as ''publisher, editor, typesetter and stamp licker'' of the press, said his is a small, independent press that publishes two books a year. He published 1,000 copies of the Seifert book, but yesterday, upon hearing the news from Sweden, he reordered 2,500 more. It is available in paperback for $6.

The 50th Anniversary of the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was fatally shot on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, 50 years ago today. The day after his assassination, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued Presidential Proclamation 3839 declaring a national day of mourning for April 7, 1968 and that flags were to be flown at half-mast at governmental and military facilities both within the United States and abroad until King's internment. Johnson begins the Proclamation by stating: "The heart of America grieves today. A leader of his people--a teacher of all people--has fallen."

For previous Common Curator posts related to King's life and work, see: The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom; Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence; The Quest for Peace and Justice; and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The New York Times has also recently republished its original obituary for King, which was first published April 5, 1968.

Res Ipsa Loquitur: The Thing Speaks for Itself

Chuck B. Goode, Chuck B. Gone: Rock in Peace

Rock & Roll legend Chuck Berry [1926-2017] died March 18th at age 90. Johnny B. Goode, one of his many pioneering songs (and featured above in a live performance), was recorded at Chess Studios on January 6, 1958 and released as a single a few months later on March 31st.

R.I.P. David Bowie

The incomparable David Bowie [1947-2016] is shown above performing on December 8, 1983 at the Hong Kong Coliseum during the final concert of his Serious Moonlight world tour. The concert featured songs from his recently released album, Let's Dance, including of course the local favorite, "China Girl." As the concert happened to fall on the third anniversary of John Lennon's death, Bowie also sang Lennon's "Imagine," prefacing his moving tribute by observing that it was in Hong Kong that he had last seen his friend, with whom in 1975 he had famously co-written (along with Carlos Alomar) his first American No. 1 hit, "Fame." (Note: The photo here was taken from a balcony seat by the Common Curator with a 50mm lens and 800 ASA film, hence the graininess.)

R.I.P. Ornette Coleman

Jazz great Ornette Coleman [1930-2015] died today at age 85 in Manhattan. In an interview in the above BBC program excerpt, Coleman states: "I'm not trying to prove anything to anybody. I want to be as human as I can get. Believe me. There's nothing I'm trying to hide. There's nothing I'm trying to climb above. There's nothing I'm trying to destroy." His obituaries can be read in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Guardian, and elsewhere.

Rest in Peace, Pete Seeger

Printing and the Mind of Merker

Kim Merker [1932-2013], master printer and proprietor of Stone Wall Press and Windhover Press, died on April 28, 2013 at age 81. A native New Yorker who travelled to Iowa City to study poetry at the University of Iowa, he launched Stone Wall Press in 1957, and published the early work of a number of significant writers, including Pulitzer Prize winners Philip Levine, Mark Strand, and James Tate.

In 1967, Merker began Windhover Press, which served as the official fine press of the university as well as a teaching press for students in the book arts. In 1986, Merker also founded the Center for the Book at Iowa, which this spring awarded the first MFA degrees in its interdisciplinary Book Arts Program.

The Grolier Club, in 1997, held a major retrospective exhibition curated by Michael Peich entitled: K.K. Merker: Serving the Muse: Stone Wall Press and Windhover Press, 1956-1996. Accompanying the exhibition was the publication of a comprehensive annotated bibliography, Printing and the Mind of Merker: A Bibliographical Study, by Sidney Berger, with contributions by Harry Duncan, Dana Gioia, and Merker himself. An obituary for Merker can be read in the New York Times.

A Tribute to Morris L. Cohen

The Law Library Journal, the main publication of the American Association of Law Libraries, recently devoted the entirety of its Winter 2012 issue to the remarkable life and work of legal scholar, bibliographer, and librarian, Morris L. Cohen [1927-2010]. Cohen died on December 18, 2010, with an obituary appearing in the New York Times; the newspaper also published an editorial appreciation extolling Cohen's career.

The articles appearing in Law Library Journal, with links to PDFs, are titled as follows:

— Introduction
— Morris L. Cohen, 1927-2010: A Remembrance and Celebration
— In Praise of Morris L. Cohen's Bibliography of Early American Law
— Morris L. Cohen: A Reminiscence
— Memories of Morris—and How I Use His BEAL 
— Morris Cohen and Rare Book School
— Morris Cohen and the Art of Book Collecting
— Cornerstones for Enduring Law Libraries: Morris Cohen's Influence at Yale
— Birth of a Nutshell: Morris Cohen in the 1960s
— The End of Scholarly Bibliography: Reconceptualizing Law Librarianship
— Appeals to the Privy Council Before American Independence: An Annotated Digital Catalogue
— Blackstone and Bibliography: In Memoriam Morris Cohen
— Booksellers in Court: Approaches to the Legal History of Copyright in England Before 1842
— Practicing Reference . . . "That Most Congenial Lawyer/Bibliographer"
— Reflections: An Interview with Morris L. Cohen
— Morris L. Cohen: A Bibliography of His Works
— Keeping Up with New Legal Titles

The Common Curator was fortunate to have known Morris while working in the antiquarian book trade and as a curator of rare law books. A true scholar-librarian and gentleman, he exemplified the very best qualities of the book world, the likes of which are indeed rarely encountered.

Note: The photograph above appeared in the Law Library Journal courtesy of the Cohen family.

Master Printmaker: Mauricio Lasansky [1914-2012]

Mauricio Lasansky, who as a long-time professor of art developed the printmaking program at the University of Iowa into one of finest anywhere, died at 97 on April 2, 2012 in Iowa City. Best known for his series, The Nazi Drawings, Lasansky exhibited widely throughout the world, and extended his influence through his work as a teacher of countless artists and printmakers. "Lasansky: Inside the Image" documents his artistic methods, life, and philosophy.

Edward G. Holley, National Library Leader, Dies at 83

One of the most outstanding leaders in 20th century American librarianship, Dr. Edward G. Holley, died peacefully Thursday, February 18 in Durham, North Carolina. A highly respected dean and professor at the School of Information and Library Science (SILS) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1972 to 1985 and William Rand Kenan, Jr. Professor from 1989 until he retired from the School in 1995, Dr. Holley was known as a giant in the library world.

Holley was born in 1927 in Pulaski, Tenn. In 1949 he earned a B.A. in English from David Lipscomb College in Nashville, Tenn. He then received an M.A. in library science in 1951 from George Peabody College for Teachers, also in Nashville. In 1961 Holley completed a Ph.D. in library science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He began his professional
academic career at the University of Houston, and he spent nine years in Texas before coming to Chapel Hill in 1972 to assume the position of dean and professor in UNC at Chapel Hill's SILS.

Holley served as president of the American Library Association (ALA) from 1974-75 and received nearly every major award his profession bestowed, notable among them the ALA Scarecrow Press Award for his published dissertation, Charles Evans, American Bibliographer (1964); the ALA Melvil Dewey Award (1983); the ALA Joseph Lippincott Award (1987); Distinguished Alumnus Awards (Peabody Library School, Vanderbilt University, 1987;
Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, 1988); the Academic/Research Librarian of the Year Award (Association of College and Research Libraries, 1988); and the Beta Phi Mu Award (1992). In 1994, he was honored with a festschrift, For the Good of the Order: Essays in Honor of Edward G. Holley, the title bearing
witness to his tireless professional devotion.

An eminent historian, Holley produced over 100 books, articles and essays on topics as diverse as library biography, the history of library education, copyright, library administration and the place of personal morality in public life. He served on countless high level committees,
worked for accreditation standards, defended the MLS, testified before Congressional committees and acted as library consultant. As ALA president during turbulent times (1974-1975), he was largely responsible for establishing a federated system for ALA ("every tub on its own bottom").

While dean of SILS, Holley established a doctoral program, hired distinguished faculty and expanded the master's program to two years, providing a core curriculum known famously to students during his years as "The Block." In 1975 he established the internship program at the Environmental Protection Agency Library that still exists today. As professor and advisor, he was an inspiration to his students.

"Ed was not only a distinguished professional, but also a caring and compassionate individual," said Dr. Barbara B. Moran, interim dean of SILS. "He was one of the most unselfish people I ever met and was always concerned with the good of others. He was a wonderful mentor and someone who cared deeply about the students, the faculty and the School. Using his own term, he always put the "good of the order" before his individual needs. He was truly a remarkable person and one who will be missed deeply by those who had the opportunity to know him."

Dr. Holley was preceded in death by his wife, Bobbie Lee Holley. He is survived by four children, Gailon Holley, Jens Holley, Amy Holley and Beth Holley; and three grandchildren, Melody Holley, Faith Holley and Julia Ruth.

A memorial service for Dr. Holley, will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 12, 2010 at Gerrard Hall on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus.

A reception in the historic Queen Anne Faculty Lounge at the UNC Campus YMCA (next to Gerrard Hall) will immediately follow the memorial service. All who would like to join the family are invited to attend.

Gifts in memory of Dr. Holley may be directed to the "Edward G. Holley Student Research Fund" at SILS. For more information on how to make donations in Dr. Holley's name, please contact the SILS office at 919-843-8337 or send e-mail to wmonroe@unc.edu.

Note: Portions of this news story have been reprinted from "Interview with Edward G. Holley" by Tommy Nixon, which was published in North Carolina Libraries, 56(2), Summer 1998, p.65-70.)

Dr. Benson Reid Wilcox, UNC Heart Surgeon, Dies at 77

Benson Reid Wilcox, M.D., a pediatric heart surgeon who served 29 years as chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, died May 11, 2010, at his home after a courageous battle with brain cancer. He was 77.

Dr. Wilcox served as chief of cardiothoracic surgery at UNC from 1969 to 1998. During that period, which was a time of dramatic advances in heart and lung surgery, the UNC hospital began offering coronary artery surgery, heart and lung transplantation, successful surgery for congenital heart defects in newborn infants, and a comprehensive program for the treatment of lung and esophageal cancer.

Dr. Wilcox was primarily a pediatric heart surgeon whose specialties were congenital heart disease, pediatric cardiac morphology, pediatric chest disease, and pulmonary circulation. He was a co-author of three books and an author of numerous medical journal articles and book chapters. He held important leadership posts in national medical organizations and was especially interested in the training of future surgeons.

Dr. Wilcox, known as Ben, was born May 26, 1932, in Charlotte, N.C., the son of James Simpson Wilcox and Louisa Reid Wilcox. He was raised in Charlotte and graduated from the Darlington School in Rome, Ga., in 1949. He was named 1997 Distinguished Alumnus of the Darlington School.

He earned an A.B. in history from the University of North Carolina in 1953 and an M.D. from the UNC School of Medicine in 1957. As an undergraduate at UNC, he was president of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and Rex of the Order of Gimghoul. At the UNC medical school, he was president of his class and was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society in 1957.

While a medical student in 1956, Dr. Wilcox helped to conduct laboratory research on the application of newly developed heart-lung machines. A heart-lung machine was first used in the operating room at UNC in April 1957, beginning the era of open heart surgery at North Carolina Memorial Hospital.

After serving as a surgery resident at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis (1957-1959) and North Carolina Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill (1959-1960), he spent two years as a surgical clinical associate at the National Heart Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. He then returned to UNC as chief resident in cardiovascular and thoracic surgery (1962-63) and as chief resident in surgery (1963-64).

He joined the UNC Department of Surgery faculty in 1964 and was appointed as chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery in 1969 and as a full professor in 1971. He was named a Markle Scholar in Academic Medicine in 1967. After he retired as chief of cardiothoracic surgery, Dr. Wilcox remained on the UNC medical school faculty as Professor of Surgery from 1998 until his death.

Dr. Wilcox also served the university in a number of other capacities. He was a member of the Selection Committee for the North Carolina Fellows Program; the UNC Faculty Committee on Athletics, serving as chairman from 1977 to 1985; and the Morehead Foundation’s Central Selection Committee, serving as chairman from 1989 to 1992. He was on the university’s Faculty Council and other campus-wide committees. He was a member of the executive committee of the Atlantic Coast Conference from 1978 to 1982 and was its president from 1980 to 1981. He also served on the board of directors of the Ronald McDonald House in Chapel Hill from 1981 to 1999.

He held leadership positions in prestigious professional organizations, including chairman of the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, chairman of the Advisory Council for Cardiothoracic Surgery of the American College of Surgeons, president of the Nathan A. Womack Surgical Society, and president of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the largest society of thoracic surgeons in the world. He received the Distinguished Service Award from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons in 2003.

He had a strong interest in graduate medical education, the training of resident physicians. He was instrumental in establishing the Thoracic Surgery Directors Association (TSDA) which was formed to improve cardiothoracic surgery training and education for doctors, and whose members are directors of cardiothoracic surgery residency programs across the United States. From 1985 to 1987, he served as president of TSDA. In 2009, the TSDA honored him by establishing the Benson Wilcox Award for Best Resident Paper, to be presented each year at The Society of Thoracic Surgeons' annual meeting for the best scientific abstract submitted by a cardiothoracic surgery resident.

He also was on the Board of Directors of the National Resident Matching Program from 1998 to 2007, serving as president from 2001 to 2002. He was a member of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education’s Residency Review Committee for Thoracic Surgery (1999-2005); the American College of Surgeons’ Graduate Medical Education Committee (1993-2001); and a member of the Committee on Graduate Education for the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (1992-2001).

In 1980, Dr. Wilcox spent time during a sabbatical at Royal Brompton National Heart and Lung Hospital in London, beginning a collaboration with Robert H. Anderson, M.D., a pediatric morphologist at Royal Brompton. After that visit, he and Dr. Anderson worked together on many research projects and publications, including the book Surgical Anatomy of the Heart (Raven Press, 3rd edition, 2004). The two physicians established a program that for many years enabled UNC cardiothoracic surgery residents to spend time in London studying with Dr. Anderson and attending rounds with him. Dr. Anderson also visited UNC.

Dr. Wilcox also was co-author of Atlas of the Heart (Gower Medical Publishing, 1988); and a co-editor of Diagnostic Atlas of the Heart (Raven Press, 1994). He was an author of more than 100 scientific and clinical articles that were published in medical journals.

After operating on many ill children, Dr. Wilcox had the idea of starting a support group for families of children who are undergoing heart surgery. The Carolina Parent Network, begun in 1986 and directed by Maggie Morris for many years, enables parents of children who are facing heart surgery at UNC to talk to parents who have already had the experience, and it also educates families about what to expect before, during and after surgery.

Dr. Wilcox loved history, especially medical history. As a medical student at UNC, he helped found the Bullitt Club for the study of the history of medicine. As a faculty member, he began collecting old and rare books about the history of medicine, particularly books about thoracic surgery and the specialties that preceded it. In 1984, he began presenting a rare book to the UNC Health Sciences Library each year in honor of his chief resident. In 1998 and 1999, he donated most of his medical book collection to the library. Since then the Benson Reid Wilcox Collection has grown to more than 1,400 books, journals, reprints and other items. He served on the board of visitors for the UNC Health Sciences Library.

"Dr. Wilcox' contributions to the historical collections at the Health Sciences Library were truly remarkable in both variety and scope. An avid and erudite bibliophile, he thrilled in the hunt for significant texts, and had a deep appreciation for the role of history in the theory and practice of medicine," said Daniel Smith, special collections librarian for the UNC Health Sciences Library.

Dr. Wilcox is survived by his wife, Patsy Davis, and by his four children: Adelaide W. King and her husband, Ruffin, of Charlottesville, Va.; Sandra W. Conway and her husband, Peter, of Charlotte, N.C.; Melissa W. Bond and her husband, Brett, of Charlotte; and Reid Wilcox and his wife, Suzanne, of Greensboro, N.C. He is also survived by 11 grandchildren, Alexandra and Ruffin King; Peter, Ben and Adelaide Conway; Brett, Lucinda and Reid Bond; and Ben, Henry and Ellie Wilcox. He is also survived by two stepdaughters, Harriet Kendall and Julia Klein; a brother, Bob Wilcox; two sisters-in-law, Dede Thompson and Louise Wilcox, and a brother-in-law Allan Davis. He was predeceased by his parents and by his brother Jim Wilcox.

A memorial service will be held Friday, May 14, at 2 p.m. in Gerrard Hall on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Gerrard Hall is on Cameron Avenue, across from the Old Well, between Memorial Hall and the South Building.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial gifts to the TSDA Benson R. Wilcox Award. Checks can be made to the Thoracic Surgery Directors Association and mailed to Michael R. Mill, M.D., Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, CB#7065, UNC-CH, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7065.

Note: See related Carolina Curator posts: Dr. Benson Wilcox: Surgeon, Scholar, and Benefactor and A Hearty Valentine's Greeting.

The Legacy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Tsutomu Yamaguchi [1916-2010], a survivor of the atomic bombing of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II, died recently at age 93. Although it is estimated that 165 people survived both blasts, Yamaguchi is the only one officially recognized by the Japanese government as a nijyuu hibakusha, or twice-bombed person. Late in life Yamaguchi publically advocated for nuclear disarmament through speeches, songs, and books, and his death was reported around the world, including obituaries in the New York Times and the Guardian.

The health consequences of war-time radiation exposure were profound, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths and illnesses; subsequent generations have also suffered due to genetic damage and birth defects. Special Collections at Health Sciences Library has several works related to the atomic bombings, with one of the most notable being Hiroshima Diary: The Journal of a Japanese Physician, August 6 - September 30, 1945. Published in 1955 by University of North Carolina Press, it is a firsthand account by Dr. Michihiko Hachiya, director of the Hiroshima Communications Hospital, and describes his own injuries and the mass destruction surrounding him (UNC Press republished the book in 1995 with a new foreword by John Dower).

Warner Wells, M.D., a surgeon at the UNC School of Medicine from 1952 until his retirement in 1973, edited and supervised the translation of Hiroshima Diary. Wells learned of Hachiya's diary through his work as a surgical consultant for the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission, which he joined in 1950. It appeared in segments in the Japanese medical journal, Teishin Igaku, and in spring 1951, Wells met Hachiya and obtained his consent to translate and publish the diary in English. He was assisted by Dr. Neal Tsukifuji, a Japanese-American doctor, and consulted frequently with Hachiya. Wells also visited all the places mentioned in the diary, and noted this about the translation process: "Trying to relive Dr. Hichiya's experience, I succeed to the extent that I came to dream of the bombing and on occasion awakened in terror."

An account of Hiroshima from an American's perspective is Averill A. Liebow's Encounter with Disaster: A Medical Diary of Hiroshima, 1945. A physician, Dr. Liebow was a member of the Joint Atomic Bomb Commission in Japan. His diary records the formation of the Commission, the establishment of a working relation with Japanese medical investigators, and daily activities from September 18 to December 6, 1945; it also describes the preparation of the Army Institute of Pathology's report on Hiroshima that was completed on September 7, 1946.

Subject searches on Hiroshima and Nagasaki yield many resources at UNC University Libraries; some of the titles at the Health Sciences Library include:

:: Hiroshima under Atomic Bomb Attack [1954]
:: Ichiban: Radiation Dosimetry for the Survivors of the Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki [1977]
:: US-Japan Joint Reassessment of Atomic Bomb Radiation Dosimetry in Hiroshima and Nagasaki [1987]
:: Suffering Made Real: American Science and the Survivors at Hiroshima [1994]
:: Reassessment of the Atomic Bomb Radiation Dosimetry for Hiroshima and Nagasaki; Dosimetry System 2002: Report of the Joint US-Japan Working Group [2005]

With nuclear weapons a mainstay of the arsenals of the world's most powerful military forces, the threat of wartime radiation exposure continues today. Depleted uranium is also utilized in weaponry in active war zones (see, for example, the 2004 documentary, The Doctor, the Depleted Uranium, and the Dying Children, which examines the impact of radioactive weapons in Iraq). In Japan, the Radiation Effects Research Foundation is a joint Japanese-American scientific organization devoted to the study of the health effects of nuclear weapons.

The International Atomic Energy Agency is an independent organization created by the United Nations in 1956 that was given impetus by President Eisenhower's Atoms for Peace speech to the UN General Assembly on December 8, 1953. The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, opened for signature in 1968 and entering into force in 1970, is one of the main international instruments governing the use of nuclear weapons, and limits to five the number of declared nuclear weapons states: United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France, and China, which coincidentally are the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. Originally intended to last 25 years, the treaty was extended indefinitely during a UN review conference in 1995.

Edwin Gerhard Krebs [1918-2009], Nobel Laureate, Dies

Dr. Edwin G. Krebs, who shared the 1992 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology with Dr. Edmond H. Fischer "for their discoveries concerning reversible protein phosphorylation as a biological regulatory mechanism," died December 21, 2009. His death was reported in a New York Times obituary.

His Nobel Lecture on Protein Phosphorylation and Cellular Regulation as well as an autobiography is available on the Nobel web site. (Krebs is no relation to Hans Adolf Krebs [1900-1981], who won a Nobel Prize in 1953, for the discovery of the citric acid cycle, also known as the "Krebs cycle").