Last night, Genie Scott of the NCSE spoke at Michigan State and about half of the board of Michigan Citizens for Science was there. The subject of her speech was, essentially, the evolution of creationism, how creationism has evolved over the last 80 years in the United States. It was, as expected, an excellent and information packed presentation. One of my fellow board members, who had never had the opportunity to meet Genie in person, commented that she was very impressed by how personable and charming she was as a speaker.
After Rob Pennock gave her a glowing introduction, she took to the podium and remarked that she had once been described as the Darth Vader of evolution by the other side and she preferred Rob's description of her better. Indeed, many ID advocates view her as something of a cross between Eva Braun, the wicked witch of the west, and Pol Pot's mother in law. Anyone who has met her can assure you that one cannot maintain such an opinion much past the moment you make her acquaintance. Genie Scott is simply one of the nicest and most engaging people you could ever meet and, as she closes in on a standard retirement age, one can only wonder how we will ever manage to replace her when the inevitable time comes that she tires of her incredibly busy schedule and decides to settle in at home with the hubby and the grandchildren.
Here's an odd thing that happened at the seminar. I was sitting with another MCFS board member before they got started and we were talking about Harriet, the giant tortoise that Darwin brought back with him from the Galapagos islands. I mentioned that I had written about it recently on my blog, and a young man sitting in front of us turned around and said, "You wouldn't happen to be Ed Brayton, would you?" I said, "Yes, how did you know that?" and he said he's a big fan of my blog and reads it every day. That's a first for me.
P.S. If Wes or Nick or Glenn reads this, tell Genie that one of her powerpoint slides, the one with the picture of all the DI guys standing together, has Dembski's name misspelled as Demsbki. I didn't get a chance to tell her that myself after the presentation.
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I had a similar thing happen to me.
My wife Tiffany worked for the county attorney last summer and they didn't think to ask if she was related to my father, a developer whom they had a zoning cases against. They eventually figured it out and had a big laugh. One of the assistant county attorneys was telling her husband, an English professor, about it, and he surprised her by knowing who I was because he reads my blog.
"...and a young man sitting in front of us turned around and said, "You wouldn't happen to be Ed Brayton, would you?" I said, "Yes, how did you know that?" and he said he's a big fan of my blog and reads it every day. That's a first for me."
I hope you have the opportunity to get used to this sort of admiration.
and now for something completely different?? What is with the voters of the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame???