In memoriam

This weekend I heard the news about the death of a friend I never met. He had cancer of the bile duct (what I thought I had at first), and we e-mailed each other for several months, sharing comments on treatment, encouraging thoughts, and a lot of laughter -- I loved his reaction to my question about whether the bear repellent was to be sprayed on the bear or on yourself to repel the bear. Our conversations, obviously, went far beyond the disease that first linked us. I will miss him.