Dear Bill This is very sad news. You, your family, and Steve’s family have our sincere condolences. Steve Schanuel was a gifted mathematician who could focus fully on a problem under discussion and, as you say, generously offer his deep understanding. We were fortunate to have Steve twice visit Macquarie, where he was greatly appreciated, not only by the category theorists, but by the number theorists, and my family. I have very warm memories of driving back from an outing in the Blue Mountains where he had all of us (Margery and our boys) heartily singing songs in rounds. Another time, I was driving the gang back to Macquarie after the Seminar had been at Sydney University. We were stuck in horrible traffic in pouring rain waiting to cross the Harbour Bridge. I was expressing frustration, to put it mildly. Steve said something like: ``Ross, here we are, among friends, in comfortable chairs, discussing mathematics. Relax!’' Thinking of that still helps reduce my road rage. A meeting with Steve always left you feeling much happier, and certainly more informed. But now I feel a huge loss. Ross On 25 Jul 2014, at 9:27 am, wlawvere <wlawvere@buffalo.edu> wrote:
Stephen H. Schanuel
Dear colleagues,
It is with deep sadness that I report that my best friend, Steve Schanuel, died today.
His intellectual generosity and quick mathematical wit, legendary among colleagues and students alike, will continue to inspire many.
Bill Lawvere
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