I am deeply saddened. The loss of Fred Bookstein adds to the painful losses of Marco Corti, Leslie F. Marcus, and Dennis E. Slice. It was with these remarkable people that I learned geometric morphometrics in its pioneering days, at the end of the 1980s. They were not only mentors, but also friends and cultivated individuals whose company was always stimulating and enjoyable.
Fred Bookstein was both cryptic and brilliant; his lectures at the Stony Brook Morphometric Workshop remain unforgettable. Here are a few memories from those happy times: a humorous sketch drawn by Dennis Slice during the Morphometric Workshop at Stony Brook, when we understood only part of what was being discussed but were certain, thanks to Fred Bookstein’s extraordinary insights, that we were witnessing an epoch-making transformation in the study of comparative morphology. And a photograph of Fred Bookstein, Jim Rohlf, Gavin Naylor, Dennis Slice, and Marco Corti in New York during the editing of the NATO ASI volume *Advances in Morphometrics*. Rest in peace, dear Fred ------------------------ Anna Loy, MS, PhD Full Professor Co-Chair IUCN SSC Otter Specialist Group Dept Bioscience and Territory University of Molise 86090 Pesche, Italy e-mail: [email protected] pec: [email protected] www.otterspecialistgroup.org/osg-newsite/ Il giorno dom 21 giu 2026 alle ore 08:35 'Adams, Dean [EEOB]' via Morphmet < [email protected]> ha scritto: > Very sad news. Morphometrics has lost a creative individual who constantly > pushed the boundaries of our field and our understanding of science. > > Dean > > Dr. Dean C. Adams > Distinguished Professor > Director, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Graduate Program > Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology > Iowa State University > www.public.iastate.edu/~dcadams/ > phone: 515-294-3834 > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf > Of Joe Felsenstein > Sent: Sunday, June 21, 2026 5:38 AM > To: Morphmet <[email protected]> > Cc: Joe Felsenstein <[email protected]>; Joe Felsenstein <[email protected] > > > Subject: [MORPHMET2] Sad news > > Morphmet Folks -- > > I am sad to report the death of my good friend and colleague Fred > Bookstein. He died this morning at a hospital in Seattle after a struggle > of almost two years with cancer. > > Fred was born on 27 July 1947, so he was 78 years old. He is survived by > his wife of over > 50 years, Ede, and two daughters, one who lives in London and one in > Oakland, and through whom they had four grandchildren. > > I am sure that people here will have many thoughts about his contributions > to morphometrics. > > Joe > -- > Joe Felsenstein [email protected], [email protected] > Department of Genome Sciences and Department of Biology, University of > Washington, Box 355065, Seattle, WA 98195-5065 USA > ----- > PS: please do not use [email protected], which is an alias that > some mail systems now mistake as indicating spam. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Morphmet" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/morphmet2/CABXfcPHdq5n%2B-mfPJ%2BxUpRQ1UsWLPuJskXw0y0SNeXu5u91C-Q%40mail.gmail.com > . > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Morphmet" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/morphmet2/SJ0PR04MB83060579E794A62A08D5C178A2E02%40SJ0PR04MB8306.namprd04.prod.outlook.com > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Morphmet" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/morphmet2/CAE6khhyiUAHuS%3Dxp6gshFTNTLZSj73ioJOPBTnW9mZhSDUjMLQ%40mail.gmail.com.
