In Memoriam W. David Lewis (1931 – 2007)

It was a terrible shock to learn that David passed away on 28 September 2007. He and his dear wife Pat had attended the ICOHTEC symposium in Copenhagen this August where he gave a paper on Carl Ben Eielson's Trans-Arctic Flight. He was a bit quieter than usual, not his normal, amiable, energetic self. We talked about the forthcoming SHOT 50th Anniversary sessions in Washington DC and the fact that he, together with the other SHOT Leonardo da Vinci medalists, was invited to take part in a special Leonardo da Vinci plenary session. We also talked about a special session I was organizing for SHOT on "Technology's Animating Passions".

"Animating Passions". These could have been David's words. This was David himself. Everybody who knew him will remember his infectuous enthusiasm for his topics. In writing and teaching David was able to enthrall his audience, make his topic vivid. I would have loved having his response to the papers in the "Animating Passions" session; it would have been wonderful to discuss our old common issue of how technology comes into being, a topic which, especially in reference to aviation, we have talked about again and again.

David had been attached to ICOHTEC for a long time. All those present will vividly remember his papers like the one on automobile racing, on Louis Coatelen, or on the airmail pickup system, which were later published in ICON or in other volumes. ICOHTEC members will also remember his accomplished classical piano playing, for example at our symposia in Lisbon 1998 or in Belfort 1999, or his magnificent organ playing at St. Giles Cathedral in Prague 2000 when I had the honour and pleasure to accompany him on the trumpet.

My close bonds with David have existed since the late 1980s when he, his wonderful wife Pat and his extremely gifted daughter Ginny, had visited me and my family at our home near Hamburg; David and Pat had come to Hamburg to see Ginny who was completing her Ph. D. thesis on a topic of German 19th century literature at the University of Hamburg; John Beer, a common friend and old ICOHTEC stalwart, had suggested to contact me. From then onwards we were very close in both the history of technology, particularly aviation, and in music. David was a warm, benevolent, generous man with an enormous range of learning and exceptional wisdom. In a way he was like one of those all-encompassing renaissance scholars with stunning erudition combined with - and this is marvellous - constant eagerness to learn more. His two magna opera on "Sloss Furnaces and the Rise of the Birmingham District: An Industrial Epic" (1994) and "Eddie Rickenbacker: An American Hero in the Twentieth Century" (2005) testify to this. If you wish, David was a scholar "of the old school". For him history, also the history of technology, was about people and individuals. He was reticent in the application of theory, but convinced that writing history was very close to composing a piece of music. And what wonderful symphonies, string quartets and piano sonatas has he given us!

Let me mention a little incident which happened at a SHOT meeting some years ago. David was on the program to chair a session, I was to comment on that session. As happened sometimes we had received only two of the four papers beforehand, the other two were given to us only on arrival at the meeting. When I mentioned to David that I wanted to listen to some papers in other, earlier sessions, which were on a research project of mine and that I therefore had little time to prepare my comments David offered straightaway to switch jobs: he took the time to read the papers and then to comment while I chaired the session. All this without any discussion or much talking; just like that, simple - and wonderful - generosity.

David's passing away is a great personal loss for me as it will be for many other friends in ICOHTEC. Thank you, David, for your unfailing friendship, the long hours of discussion on the history of technology, on music, the arts and on god and the world. My and the ICOHTEC members' thoughts are with your wonderful wife Pat and your family.

Hans-Joachim Braun