Editor’s note: For the news story on the death of Mack Egger, Birney Imes solicited remembrances from former students who went on to careers in math and science, the subjects Egger taught at Lee High School. Two of those responses are as follows.
Thank you, Mr. Egger
The phone rings. Caller asks “Is this David Haynes?” I answer “Yes.” Then … “This is Birney Imes. Thought you might want to know Mack Egger died.”
Sometimes you just have to stop everything and remember those who’ve profoundly impacted your life. Mr. Egger was one of those. A few moments to remember and honor him this afternoon are pitifully just not enough. Many lives are richer — incredibly so — for having known him.
Physics can be a tough subject. But with Mr. Egger, it was not “rocket science.” We did play with rockets, and formulas, and model bridges, and a little bit of calculus. I still have in my bookcase the slide rule we optioned to buy and use in his class back in 1969.
But in all that potentially complicated stuff, he made it as practical and simple as any teacher did for any subject in my inept journey through academia.
Being an airline captain seemed the best practical application of my interests and learning. Thirty-six years later, and now two years removed from my last flight, I can look back with a wide sweep over all of it and see Mr. Egger’s crucial contributions that were the sparks which lit the fire.
The last time I saw him was at the Lowndes County Airport. Probably 1980. He was ringing wet from having driven his car through the car wash with the windows open. We had a great laugh, and then it was my pleasure to show him all around the airplane that was my office.
Flight is one of the ultimate applications of physics. We shared the love for that form of pure engineering for about an hour that afternoon while he dried out. I thanked him for his part in my enterprise. He modestly deflected the compliment. We shook hands; he drove off, and was gone.
Wish there had been more of those encounters. Some things — and some people — are just so … right. His death is now a reminder that there are other outstanding debts which probably won’t be paid.
Thank you, Mr. Egger, for lighting the fire.
David Haynes
Franklin, Tennessee
Egger made math and science fun
Mack was a great positive influence on many of us. He was a hi-jinx jokester in class and made math and science fun. And, little did I know what a launching pad that class was to my future career.
I started out in college on the lawyer path at Duke. But it was with great remorse I put the math and science away upon entering college. Then, after college, just sort of by chance, I picked it up again. … and I went full tilt into math and science.
I even became a college professor in mechanical engineering in Maine and now in California.
It has always been evident to me that the fundamentals are what count most … in any technical topic. If you don’t have those squared away, well there’s no chance that you’ll get very far. And Mack got us squared away early with math and science.
This career has led me all over the world: from the United Arab Emirates, to India, to Switzerland, to Nigeria, to China, and now to Europe regularly. I’m now writing from Northern Italy, where I’m working as a researcher in a very exciting field called the Internet of Things.
Now I can’t give Mack credit for all of this. But his influence was right there at the start, and the fun he was obviously having teaching us miscreants sent a subtle message: “Math and science are fun.” I guess I drank that Kool-Aid, and it has brought me to many corners of the world, far from Columbus.
Mack was one of the people who put me on this path, and I’ll be forever grateful to him for doing that.
Frank Owen
Crespi d’Adda, Lombardy, Italy
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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