Memories from the Feldmans

In honor of the long-standing, multi-generational friendship between the Auslanders and the Feldmans and in appreciation of the great friendship you had, Joe, with our dad Jack, Ben and David Feldman wish you a VERY happy 90th birthday!! Ben’s wife Andrea and daughter Ella also send you our very best.
 
It was wonderful for us (David and Ben) to meet your family back in 1975, (Jack had a sabbatical, at Warwick and the Auslanders, who were living in London for the summer, would visit Warwick on day trips). . We were living in the “boondocks”, more specifically, a semi-circle of visiting faculty homes on the University of Warwick campus.  These homes won awards for their architectural vision -  a vision that soared above such petty details as ensuring semi-recessed ceiling lights not be in the paths of swinging doors.
 
But you and your family were in London, and we were very impressed with the Auslanders’ familiarity with that swinging city. Bonnie and Mark also introduced us to Monty Python’s Flying Circus, an arguably Pandoran gift that subjected your friend Jack to years of his children giggling and loudly speaking in bad English accents.
 
Pieces of our families have overlapped on other occasions and eras, in Berkeley and in DC, and that familiarity and continuity has always been heartwarming and comforting.  We have witnessed the pleasure and dedication with which our Dad would attend your annual Dynamical Systems conferences, and it was obvious that much of it was a pretext for socializing with you and Barbara.
 
The forced separation of this pandemic has strangely brought about new kinds of intimacy, such as this blog. Writing a personal note on the occasion of your 90th birthday, Joe, has inspired us to get just a little bit “corny” and tell you from our hearts how much we have appreciated your role in our lives writ large, including the hospitality and kindness you and Barbara have shown to us and our father over recent years during his visits to DC, and your consistent inquiries and support when those visits could no longer be managed.  Please remember that one piece of the Feldman family, Ben and Andrea and Ella, are still living a few blocks away (or 90-ish minutes from West Virginia, whose charms we are only now discovering) and we would be delighted to visit you for fun or to help you with any challenges you may encounter.
 
Love, Ben, David, Andrea and Ella (Feldman)