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JOHN W. THIERET, AND COLLEAGUE EDITOR FRIEND (1969-2005) William F.Mahler Pork Texas 76367-1304^ U.S.A. John Thierets reputation as a dedicated botanist and unique individual pre- ceded our actual meeting, which occurred sometime in the late sixties. Over my we made but impact John on the years drifted apart, the professional career my and success wuth Contrihutions Botany remains Although Sida, strong. to SMU he spent the night at our house only a couple of times w^hen he visited the my we herbarium, the field trips took in 1969 red Ford pickup were the high- our lights of botanical relationship. We Our was Mexico biggest collecting trip to Guadalajara, in April of 1970. traveled by way of the Chihuahuan Desert and then returned through the Sonoran The pickup was mode Desert. the perfect of transportation for a long- We and camper range collecting trip because of the saddle tanks the shell. could travel six hundred miles between fiU-ups and could sleep in the back wê if was room couldn't find lodging. Also, there plenty of for all our collecting sup- plies. The decision to take this particular trip was made on a lark. We'd heard of others doing this and so we thought we'd do the same. As turned out, we actu- it When ally did find quite a few noteworthy specimens. Rupert Barneby found out where we were going, he suggested we some locations the legumes visit lor that he had collected some years back. He needed some flowering specimens. We were successful in finding some specimens north Zacatecas, which he of monograph on cited in his Dalca. The trip wâs far from boring. North of Guadalajara, John injured his ankle w^hile trying to get a specimen from the branch of a tree. He knew he had An sprainedhisankle, but he was afraid he might have broken too. x-ray in a it, hospital in Guadalajara showed no apparent broken bones, but judging by the amount of pain and the routine swelling by the end of the day John that felt it my was more than just a sprain. Howevei; with expertise in speaking Spanish, I We managed to find ice at motels to treat the swelling. were able to continue with our collecting trip. John was always the teacher To pass the time when driving, we would grill each other on botanical glossary terms and other aspects of botany had never I taken an economic botany course, but survived the equivalent ol one after I He experiencing the tropics wnth him. wâs the opposite of me, since eat to live 1 -54.2006 S1DA22(1): 51 BRIIORG/SIDA 22(1) 52 -> r--'f-' I -1^1 -C'.n"'--i.T.->|T|="- """' ^-V-^,--,-,t.jH^7Y^-pf1^V,L. Ug»4^-^ |r. 'lilj I EAJU^~^ ^hit A*nK Jc A^^ ^ + "^^rrl^---**^^™ -^ mVmiA='.Li.,----rLr-: ---^ --....^.r-^,,;,.v. j" -, ' ^w.^-.^="m -" - ^- : ^ ,- . ,/,.î'r.\...V.i'.WiM''V. John Thieret Chihuahuan Desert Mexico, April 970. 1 and he lived to eat. In the restaurants, meals were scrutinized very dihgently many and was often quizzed on the content. He ate and sampled kinds of fruits 1 many from the markets, of which had never heard of. In the field, he wâs al- 1 ways tasting and smelling the fruits, leaves, etc. and discussing the resuks after knowledge was uncanny. His spitting out the remains. of tropical fruits We followed the coastline on our way home. As we neared the border, we him overcame drove past a bakery in a small town. Johns acute sense of smell and had to turn around so he could stock up on some bread before we left I My common me we had come with Mexico. sense told to refrain since that tar no digestive problems. As turned out, he did get a light case of diarrhea, but it I did not pursue the issue. At Mazatlan, wê bought more new^spapers (fiy the kilos) for our coHections newspaper and we spent our night Mexico south of the local office, last in at Nogales, Arizona. Customs wânted time to go through our specimens look- U.S. We when one went dinner (lunch) and we ing for rusts for of their projects. to We many customs had headed back Texas with our eturned, just finished. to T and Johns oUections foot in pain. c still home Once we got on the road, John got anxious to get and check out his We morn- injury. drove all night and stopped in Abilene, Texas for gas the next ing. At Love Field in Dallas, let him out at the airport where he caught a plane I MAHLERJOHN W.THIERET,COLLEAGUE AND EDITOR FRIEND 53 :^''mi^'^^!^r-\ 'r' ." '. '-^•••^^"ft'n^^m^mm^mmmi^^ a .'^«'^;ri:*;>- .. . ^ tf John Thieret,Chihuahuan Desert, Mexico, 1970. April and went on home. home arrived about I I five o'clock in the afternoon after being up and wheel me at the for thirty-six hours. John told later that they had m found a hairline crack one ankle bones of his in addition to the sprain. Although John was not one for attenduig meetnigs, he agreed accom^ to m me pany the red Ford pickup to the Southwestern Association of Naturalists meeting in Tucson, Arizona. During man he headed young registration, over to a djoh John ;o.Joh had shaved beard e his John J my contribution to career was his in volvcment n Sida. Uoyd Shinners had told i me that needed meet John when SMU, to arrived and he was I first at right. 1 When inherited Sida, he, along with others, encouraged me continue I to its who publication, opposed as to others felt should drop the journal. With the I help Helen of Mrs. Koresh, was a sister of Lloyds, able to clear the financial I obligations Lloyd had encumbered with manu- the authors unpublished of J Joh BRIT.ORG/SIDA 22(1) 54 and Associate Editor of This was the beginning of his 'nnrernship" status as Sida that he held until his death. many with myself lucky have associated indi- have always considered to I my knowledge and whose knowdcdge and insight enriched professional viduals my The wide range was John one those individuals. furthered career goals. of fromjohn-both and fricnd-wîll always professionally as a things learned of 1 my figure significantly in life.