Brian Larkins, a career-long ASPP/ASPB member and former Society president, Editor-in-Chief of The Plant Cell, architect of our Centennial fundraising successes, and editor of the recently published update to ASPB’s history, let us know last week that he was suffering from an incurable blood disease and had decided to enter hospice care.
Amidst our grief at this devastating news, we were struck by the courage and dignity with which Brian is facing his challenges, and we asked ourselves, after all that Brian has given to and done for ASPP/ASPB and each of us, what could we do for him while he is still with us?
And so to this blog. We wanted Brian, whose contributions go well beyond ASPB to include ground-breaking work on seed biology that helped to launch the molecular biology era, to know how much he is appreciated by so many people in the plant science community by sharing with him here our own recollections and reflections (and pictures) on the ways in which he has impacted our own professional and/or personal lives.
We are getting started here with comments from some of the folk whom Brian contacted directly after he made his decision. However, we very much hope that many others will feel moved to share their own thoughts with Brian and the rest of us by posting to the Comments section at the bottom of this Blog. (Please be careful to fill out all required fields and note that comments undergo manual review, so won’t appear right away.)
Brian: We hope you will find a little solace in the words and pictures on this page, and we wish you peace on your journey.
David Marks, University of Minnesota
Brian has touched the lives of many. Especially, the students and postdocs who worked with him during his long career. I am lucky to be one of them.
I still remember the day I met Brian in 1980. I had recently completed an MS degree in molecular virology so I knew my way around a research lab. However, lacking in me at the time was a drive and purpose for doing research. In that first meeting Brian sat down with me and pulled out a maize kernel cut in half and explained that the glossy yellowish half of the seed was the endosperm and that it was highly enriched in zein type proteins that had the special property of being alcohol soluble. He went on to say that while in theory maize could feed the world, presently it was not the case, as zein protein was antinutrietial because it lacked sufficient levels of the essential amino acid lysine. He went on to pull out another kernel of a variety called opaque2. The key was that this variety contained reduced levels of zein and, consequentially, a higher lysine content. I think he might have paused to see If I understood the significance. In the end, I took that lesson to heart and worked the next four years to better understand the difference between wild-type and opaque2 maize. Thus, I owe Brian for starting me on a long career path in plant science grounded in working on problems that have potential to make plants better for humans. While all our days are numbered, Brian’s influence on the plant research world and governing bodies will live on well into the future.
Eliot Herman and Monica Schmidt, University of Arizona
I was in Israel, at the time I was a visiting scientist working with Gadi Galili who before becoming a Weizmann professor did a postdoc with Brian. Gadi was co-organizer of a seed meeting and this brought many investigators to Israel for the conference. There were trips for the meeting but for a group of Gadi’s colleagues there were some additional trips to see sights, Brian mentioned to me that his father was religious and mentioned the places that Jesus walked. So I took him to one such place that is the now sealed Huldah gates into the Temple, that lies ruined after the Roman’s destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple. The gates and the stairs to the gates still exist, so I had Brian stand in front of the gates into the Temple so he would have his photo. (Photo credit: Eliot Herman)
Monica and I are shocked and distressed at this news. You and I have worked on seeds and seed biotechnology since its inception and our collaborative research was some of my best and most interesting. Our seed review in The Plant Cell is still being cited now over 25 years later. You have been influential and supportive in my career, ultimately bringing me to University of Arizona as a professor and your hire of Monica gave her an academic career. Last evening I was telling Monica some of my stories with you, from exploring Israel together in the seed meeting Gadi Galili organized, to our dim sum outing in Vancouver during an ASPP meeting. I told her stories about the excitement we shared on first sequencing of plant cDNAs and the transformation of plants now more than 35 years ago as part of the agricultural biotechnology revolution. The work you pioneered has been influential in the lab, as a department head producing one of the most prominent Plant Sciences units in the world, with ASPP and the National Academy, for people you have hired and mentored, so many being among the most successful and impactful plant scientists. Your own success has had a chain reaction and produced many other successful individuals and works.
Monica and I are grateful that we have known you, and that you have been such an important part of our lives.
I am going to hold out hope that your doctors will find some other approach to help you continue to be part of all of our lives.
Nancy Winchester, former Publications Director, ASPB
Dear Brian,
Your news made me so sad, but I’m hoping you beat the odds and stick around awhile! I’m holding you close in my heart. I wish life could be easy, but it never is. Thank you for your friendship and support over my two decades with ASPB. You were definitely one of the fun ones. 😊
Safe travels. ♥️
Robert L. (Rob) Last, Michigan State University
Dear friend Brian,
It is so devastating to hear this news. The earth is and will continue to be a much better place thanks to you walking it. Our community was transformed by your intellect, energy, and humor. Thank you for friendship, counsel, and support over the decades. I hope that you have comfort and some joy in the presence of loved ones during your remaining time.
With love and respect.
Alesandro (Sandro) Vitale, former Ed Board Member, The Plant Cell
The first day I joined CNR as a young fellow in autumn 1978, Angelo Viotti gave me your August 1978 PP paper Synthesis and Deposition of Zein in Protein Bodies of Maize Endosperm. Since then, I have been following your work with great admiration and interest until now. More than this, by meeting you in person many times I have learned how friendly, open and interested in others’ work you are, and that you are a good man. I think the last time I have seen you in person was at the ASPB meeting in Austin, but after that I have also met you online on the occasion of the beautiful surprise of being elected as a Pioneer member of ASPB almost three years ago. I now regret I didn’t have more talks with you, but this is how life goes: regrets and regrets. You are and will always be one of the few bright stars of my life as a biologist.
Take care as much as you can.
ASPB Staff who worked closely with Brian on The Plant Cell during the 1990s
Dear Brian,
We are so honored to have shared some of the most significant years of our publications careers working with you in the early days of The Plant Cell. Your scientific leadership, business ability and talent for bringing people together helped to set the stage for a journal that has remained outstanding in its field. We appreciate your intelligence, kindness, and friendship and will always remember you as a leader in the field of plant biology.
Kent Chapman, University of North Texas and current ASPB President-Elect
Brian, I am so sorry to hear this. Just stopped me in my tracks yesterday when I read your email. I kept thinking how I’d just seen you in Hawaii in June, and couldn’t imagine I was reading that you’d entered hospice. Thank you for sharing this difficult news- you continue to teach us how to act with grace even at these final stages. The outpouring of messages was heartwarming and should comfort you to know that we’ll keep up your legacy of selfless service and mentorship to the plant biology community. One of the greatest benefits of our profession is that we get to meet incredibly talented people like you who become great friends. Thank you for sharing your many talents, scientific and otherwise, and for letting me call you my friend. Hoping for peace for you and your family in this very difficult time.
Hong Ma, Pennsylvania State University and current ASPB President
Dear Brian, thank you so much for your life-long contributions to ASPB and to the plant biology community. Your pioneering research on seed biology has been an inspiration to many of us, and your leadership and mentorship has impacted so many plant biologists. Personally, your support and guidance have helped me as an author for manuscripts for The Plant Cell and as a reviewer and editor for the ASPB journals. These have been greatly beneficial for my career as a plant biologist. More recently, I very much appreciate your wisdom and insights on my service to ASPB as part of the leadership team, particularly on your advice in recognizing and honoring long-term supporters and contributors to ASPB and plant biology. I am thinking of you and hope these words from a colleague will be helpful in a small way.
Gloria Coruzzi, New York University
L-R: Joe and Gail Ecker, Gloria Coruzzi, Brian Larkins at a NATO-ASI Course on Plant Molecular Biology, Mallorca, Spain (1993)
Dear Brian, I am rooting for you. You have been a guiding force not only for ASPB – at all levels – but especially in the Pioneer Awards, which will ensure ASPBs legacy. You have also been a guiding force for many people on a personal level. You and I always joked that you are responsible for my son Aidan, as you encouraged me to balance my devotion to my science with motherhood. I cherish that memory and all your advice and kindness to me over the years. Like Jen, I am on “Team Brian” and praying for a miracle. Don’t forget that Jimmy Carter was in “hospice” for more than two years! I pray you will beat his record. I send my love and hugs.
With much fondness – Gloria
Judy Callis, UC Davis
Brian,
You are the embodiment of all that is good about ASPB and plant sciences. It has truly been a privilege to work with you – your integrity and honor always come shining through. Thank you for all your support both personal (from when I was a post-doc, I think!) and broadly of plant sciences.
Your unflagging support of and work for ASPB has truly been remarkable.
Natasha Raikhel, UC Riverside
Dear Brian,
I was deeply saddened to hear this news, and I’m so sorry you’re going through this. It’s incredibly brave of you to share your condition and the doctor’s predictions; I truly admire your strength. It’s so true that you’ve always been at the heart of ASPB —serving as Editor-in-Chief of The Plant Cell, serving as President of our society, and starting the Pioneers program, to name just a few. Your contributions have shaped the field, and you will always remain an integral part of it. You are loved and respected by so many, and I’m sure I speak for many when I say we are all deeply grateful for both the visible and the quiet ways you’ve made a difference. Thank you, dear friend. I truly hope that the predictions you’ve received are not as drastic as they seem, and I look forward to the opportunity to see you again. Above all, my hope is that you’re not experiencing pain or suffering.
Thinking of you and wishing you all the best.
Ralph Quatrano, Washington University in St. Louis
Ralph Quatrano, Debby Delmer, and Brian Larkins outside Brian’s house in Tucson during a planning session for ASPB’s Legacy Society Leadership Committee.
Brian,
Oh no! Tell me it ain’t so!!!! I cannot believe you will leave us so early. You have made yourself quite a legacy given the tremendous amount of time and effort you have given to ASPB. You and I have become even closer than when we were with The Plant Cell for 15 years. And, to top it off with our trip to Norway!
I do not know what else to say other than I will miss you and thank you.
I hope to talk with you soon!
Your good friend.
Julia Bailey-Serres, UC Riverside
Dear Brian,
Your open sharing of an anticipated departure rocked my soul. I am grateful to have the opportunity to express my deep appreciation of your decades of research and good deeds.
Thank you for your infinite dedication to the community of plant biologists. Thank you for setting the premier example of dedication to APSB, from editor-in-chief to endowment builder. Thank you for cultivating the longevity and brilliance of our community. You have passed a bright torch.
Also, thank you for your mentorship for over 30 years. I remain inspired by your insightful foundational research on maize endosperm biology, from the zeins and OPAQUE 2, to polyribosomes tangled in cytoskeleton and the moonlighting of eIF1A.
With enduring fond memories,
Julia
Alan Kriz, Bayer Crop Science (Ret.)
I was a postdoc with Brian in the mid-1980s at Purdue. I owe him a lot. I first met him when he came to give a seminar at Indiana when I was a grad student. I introduced myself and he asked to see some of the stuff I was working on, which was focused on characterization of maize embryo storage proteins. I showed him one of my projects and he said, “Let me know if you ever want a postdoc.” A year later I called him and he said, “When can you start?” After a couple years in his lab I interviewed for a faculty position at Illinois and I bombed the interview; my wife had just experienced a health issue and I was simply out of sorts. The department head called Brian and asked why the hell he had recommended me. Larkins said, “He’s the guy you want, give him another chance.” So they took that second chance, I had a good interview, and was offered the job that same day. No telling what path my career would have taken without him.
