About a week after Sky died, Dianne Newman, one of Sky's advisors, organized a conference call where her group members (both past & present) who knew Sky got together to talk about him. Dianne says they were all so devastated at the beginning of the conversation, but after an hour of sharing memories (the ones recorded below), they all began to feel a lot better. Dianne hopes these memories have the same effect on you. ==============================================================
I will always remember how he was curious about every project in the lab and we could always count on interesting and thought provoking questions from him in group meetings as well as in seminars no matter what the topic. ~Shanna Potter
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One time I accidentally broke a whole bottle of chloroform. People from one side of the lab had to be evacuated until the spilled chloroform got properly cleaned up. I felt horrible for my stupid mistake. Sky walked up to me and said: "Thank you so much for solvent cleaning the floor of our lab." I just cracked up. What he said made me feel so much better. ~Yun Wang
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One of the things that I really admired in him was that, even though he had deep feelings and serious, strong opinions about what was going on in the world, he was also able to laugh and make other people laugh in a way that just made it a pleasure to spend time with him. I had sent out an email to the lab that said, "Would anyone like to order anything from VWR? Let me know." The only response I got was from him, and it said, "Yup." I think that encapsulates his wit.
Another fond memory I have of him is from the geobiology retreat last year, when we camped in Joshua Tree. I remember sitting around the fire with him and Lars and some other grad students. It was very pleasant with the campfire and the stars, but I was becoming increasingly anxious because I could hear animals rummaging around the picnic tables and also near us. Sky wasn't scared at all, and he shined his flashlight on some activity near us. I jumped when I saw the animal, but Sky said, "awww, it's just a cute little desert mouse!" and I realized it was actually the cutest rodent I had ever seen (they sort of have little kangaroo-like feet and a tuft at the end of their tails). That was it; he didn't do anything to try to make the mice go away, and it just indicated to me how much he appreciated living things, and that he was a part of the same natural world as that mouse. You could see that in him at Yosemite too. There were other seasoned hikers there, but something about Sky was different -- he just felt totally at home and comfortable in the woods, and you could tell he loved it. That is a lesson we can all take from him: remember to, once in a while, look at the natural world from the perspective of an insider. As scientists we always try to take the objective view, but we can also learn and experience a lot by remembering that we aren't really outsiders--we're inhabitants of the same planet. ~Alexa Price-Whelan
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I was a graduate student with Sky in the Newman lab. Every day I am still sad that he's not with us anymore. He was always such an energetic force in the lab, full of enthusiasm and determination. He could fix anything that broke, build new experimental setups and even get us to organize the -80 degree freezer. Sky's friendliness and leadership kept the geobiology program going and made those around him more excited and knowledgable about the field. He was an important part of the glue that held everyone in Caltech geobiology together. His sense of humor would come through at random times in the lab and in various emails. Here is one of his email responses:
I wrote:
The refrigerator has been smelly. It's been cleaned up somewhat, but please go look through the things in the fridge and see if there is anything there that is yours that should be thrown out or otherwise moved -- yogurts, Naked Juices, mysterious tupperware items, soups, breads, fruits. Some items may have magically turned into cream cheese, because we appear to have a lot of those.
Sky's response:
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 18:21:05 -0800
From: Sky Rashby <
sky@gps.caltech.edu>
To: Tracy Teal <
tracyt@caltech.edu>
Subject: Re: refrigerator
Now that's what I call "diagenesis." :) .........................................................
Sky would smile when he talked to you, but never seemed to smile in pictures. I remember on Doug's last day at Caltech, Shanna, Christine, Doug, Sky and I went to lunch at Ernie's. Ernie took a polaroid of us to give to Doug for his going-away and managed to catch Sky smiling in the picture, and I was happy that we finally got him smiling in a picture.
He seemed to have boundless energy, which was definitely on display on our hike in Yosemite. He practically ran down the trail like a mountain goat, and I have to admit I got a little tired even just watching. But he would encourage everyone along and he and Nicky really helped get everyone to the top of the mountain.
I don't think that I can say that I knew Sky that well, but I know that he was always willing to listen and to help wherever he was needed or when anyone would ask. When he took on a project, I always knew that it would get done and be done well.
It's hard to think of the lab empty over there. I've been by a few times to check on things and it's just so quiet. Sky brought life with him wherever he went, and I'm so sad to realize that his energy isn't here anymore. I think about him every day, and like everyone, I wish that things could be different and that I could see him there in the lab with his specially designed culturing tank, and talk to him awhile. ~Tracy Teal
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In my memory, Sky is a nice guy who always smiles and may have kept too much to himself, and who just left earlier than he should. It has been difficult to accept the fact about Sky's death, and I miss him so much. The process of digesting the time I spent with Sky over the past 3 years makes me feel better, because all he left me were so many happy memories.
Sky was a very responsible lab citizen, and very hardworking. He was responsible for the cold room for years. Our cold room had a humidity problem, and had to be cleaned up for removing fungus contamination from time to time. Sky would spend hours in the cold room to empty the room, and bleach the counters and shelves. Even days after the cleaning, I couldn't walk into the cold room because of the strong bleach smell, and I still don't know how he could have dealt with that.
I didn't have many chance to work with Sky since he worked on a different project all by himself in the lab. But I remember the occasion that we both want to use the French press from another lab in Brown building before we had our own. So we went together to check out and use the machine a few times. When the machine wasn't working, he was quite optimistic and called the company to discuss how we could fix it most quickly. I felt that I could trust and rely on his words that the machine will be fixed soon and my experimental plan will be carried out as scheduled. It turned out I was right. I remember the many short walks back and forth between our lab and the Brown building, he made me laugh all the time!
The other day, I was checking the old protocol book from Caltech, and I spotted the KELROF record that I kept in the folder. KELROF (Kellogg's Eighth Light Regiment Of Foot) is a 24-hour relay run held annually on the Caltech track. There, Sky's name is on the list, on top of mine, and his time for the first mile run is 7 minutes and 16 seconds. This reminds me of the longest and the shortest 24 hours we spent with him on the track, with all that sweat, drowsiness (due to short of sleep) and happiness that we shared.
Another thing I remembered about Sky is that once I asked him for a favor (forgot what it was), and he insisted that I say "pretty please," otherwise he wouldn't offer to help. That was my first time to learn this phase, and since then, I always associate it with Sky. I wish I could say it one more time to Sky, "Please, do not leave us so early, pretty please." ~Yongqin Jiao
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Sky was refreshing. I always liked being around him, not necessarily having to talk. On days when it got late in the lab and there wasn't much to say, we'd just play each other our weirdest music, such as soundtracks for Italian B-movies. It was like exchanging stories. It was fun, very uncomplicated. One day Sky came over to my bench and asked if I'd like to go to a concert. He organized tickets for Alexa, Crystal and myself. I am mentioning this story because the evening of the concert became one of my most cherished Pasadena memories. Not because of the band, but because of Sky. Not only did he organize the tickets, but he brought food and wine that he shared with us. It was a warm evening and we experienced a beautiful sunset. While the band was playing, Sky started telling stories, mainly about his family and his childhood. Funny, short anecdotes. How he went traveling with his Dad to Paris: His Dad would buy cheap beer and they'd sit down in the entrance hall of the Louvres watching and making fun of American tourists. He told these stories and burst out laughing, then fill everybody's cups with more wine. The atmosphere of that evening will always stay with me. It was how life should be: just being, listening to music with a sunset in the background, eating, drinking wine. ...Thanks Sky. ~Lars Dietrich
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The memory I shared with you was when Dale Kaiser came to give a seminar. Sky was in charge of organizing meetings and dinners with Dale and people interested on talking with him. Sky had heard about the phage plaquing-like phenotype I observed to be linked to phenazine production and knowing that Dale had worked with lambda for quite a while Sky looked for me and invited me to join them for dinner. It was a very nice evening not only because Dale is a pleasure to talk with, but also because Sky proved to be a great host. Putting aside the urge that most people have to talk about their own science, he was concerned about including everyone in the discussion. That day talked and discussed my observations with Dale for hours. This, thanks to Sky and his genuine interest for other people. ~Itzel Ramos-Solis
