Later in Urbana, I was hunting for a strong light for my experiments and I was touring the university with a power meter. Govindjee said he had just the thing

and disappeared into the heirlooms cupboard. He came back with something that was certainly of great age and sentimental value and looked like it had come from a pre-war setup or possibly a watchtower at Joliet prison. He cranked it up and pointed it at my hand-held power ITF2357 meter which duly melted as all the hair on the back of my hand was incinerated: clearly a portable death ray lamp. I politely declined the offer (and went back to nicking the big Kodak projector from the Chemistry lecture theatre). Second impression: Gov is helpful and sentimental but can be “dangerous”. When I turned up in Japan in 1983 to follow up on my identification of the thermoluminecence bands of the year before, Govindjee and Gernot Renger were there. I published several articles, some with G and G, and we had a lot of fun (see Rutherford et al. 1984). Indeed fun was had out of the lab as well as Raf inhibitor in: with G, G and me, our respective wives, Rajni, Eva and Agnes and our enormously hospitable Japanese hosts, Inoue san and the gang. I have good memories of parties in and around Tokyo and of course in Indian restaurants. And with Gov smoking a fat cigar*: Third impression: Gov knows how to enjoy himself and entertain

his friends. (*An exchange at a party in Japan: Bill to Gov: “you see this (obviously chocolate) ice cream”? Gov: “yes?” Bill: “well it was vanilla until you lit up that cheroot!” [We all know that Govindjee stopped smoking around that time… JJE-R.]) I could go on about the famous incident at the hot baths in Hakone but this is not the time for discussing the combination of Japanese bathing culture, Govindjee’s photographic mania and some unexpected optical phemonena involving the refraction of light through water. I will leave that to your imagination. Many of us still have copies of the

photos stored away. Forth impression: Govindjee likes to preserve history (in the Thiamet G form of photos). All the best, Gov, keep on with your enthusiasm, your helpfulness, your sentimentality, your photography, and keep on enjoying yourself. Richard Sayre Senior Research Scientist Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM As an early stage assistant professor I had the privilege to work with Govindjee for the first time. He brought incredible excitement, innovation and energy to our joint project. My students could hardly keep up with him. As I came to know Govindjee, I realized he had always been like this even after his retirement from Illinois. There are few who have been so impactful on the field and the early careers of young scientists in photosynthesis. I hope we can all aspire to his model. Best wishes for your 80th birthday. [It is fitting to mention here the extensive collaborations that Sayre and Govindjee had.