✍ Scribed by Les Watling; Jim Thomas
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
who died suddenly on 16 August 1991, while working in Florida. Jerry was unquestionably the most important contributor to our knowledge of the Amphipoda since the early years of Sars and Stebbing, and his death leaves an enormous void. He described many hundreds of species and was responsible for several syntheses, the most important of which were the two volumes published privately on the freshwater Amphipoda of the world and the just published world monograph, an update of his 1969 treatment of the families and genera of marine gammaridean amphipods.
To many of us, though, Jerry was more than a source of descriptions and details. Jerry's work, and personality, influenced the lives and careers of many people. His devotion to amphipods and birds, his appreciation of the natural world, and his sense of humor and generosity were an inspiration to those who knew him. He always encouraged us to continue our taxonomic studies, recognizing that for many of us it would mean only part-time devotion to this field. He was also a sympathetic sounding board, always willing to try out new ideas and approaches.
We are, sadly, in a period where taxonomic studies do not seem to have the value they once had, where new taxonomists are not being trained, or, if trained, are unemployable. Jerry lamented this decline in systematics, but continued to advance amphipod taxonomy until the day he died. We can only hope to have the opportunity to carry on his work, and to follow his example in stimulating a new generation of scientists to take up the science of taxonomy.
LES WATLING & JIM THOMAS
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