09-01 2021 23:37
wrote:
I am writing to express my sincere condolences on the death of Nick Foster - I have only just found out some four months late and I am shocked and saddened at this news. I was Nick closest friend 1993-1995 when we were both at the University of Pennsylvania together. Nick was working on his groundbreaking PhD thesis and I was a post-doc Visiting Professor in Regional Science. I met Nick while he was working as a part-time assistant in the Dynamics of Organization Program and we became great friends. Every Wednesday night we were a two-person quiz team in the Irish Bar Quiz Night on Sansome Street just next to Penn (frequently winning!) and we spent many many hours having conversations of both great fun and great depth and went to many parties, social events and ice skating (he was not good!) with friends. He was steeped in pop and alternative rock music, classical music, literature and philosophy and was just one of the very best people ever to spend time with. He hardly every talked openly about these things - these were things that over time you just came to know about him. I visited his home in Syston in the summer of 1994 and I kept in touch with him long after I left the US in late 1995. We met up in Menlo Park in early 2000 when he was still living in a motel in Palo Alto. He then visited me in Japan when I was a Visiting Professor in Tsukuba in May 2000. We climbed Mount Fuji together overnight in order to arrive in time for the dawn sunrise (Goraiko) over the surrounding sea of clouds. Typical Nick - before coming to Japan he had spent months reading Japanese classical literature and philosophy in order to prepare himself for the experience. Visiting the temples in Kyoto he was completely at home. This was the last time I saw Nick in person. We emailed occasionally over the years and every year I have googled him to see what he has been doing and where he was up to. I have only just tonight seen these posts and I am deeply saddened. I have just called my Dad - who also remembers Nick very fondly and always asks about him - with the sad news. I have only wonderful memories of such a wonderful person.
09-01 2021 23:37
wrote:
I am writing to express my sincere condolences on the death of Nick Foster - I have only just found out some four months late and I am shocked and saddened at this news. I was Nick closest friend 1993-1995 when we were both at the University of Pennsylvania together. Nick was working on his groundbreaking PhD thesis and I was a post-doc Visiting Professor in Regional Science. I met Nick while he was working as a part-time assistant in the Dynamics of Organization Program and we became great friends. Every Wednesday night we were a two-person quiz team in the Irish Bar Quiz Night on Sansome Street just next to Penn (frequently winning!) and we spent many many hours having conversations of both great fun and great depth and went to many parties, social events and ice skating (he was not good!) with friends. He was steeped in pop and alternative rock music, classical music, literature and philosophy and was just one of the very best people ever to spend time with. He hardly every talked openly about these things - these were things that over time you just came to know about him. I visited his home in Syston in the summer of 1994 and I kept in touch with him long after I left the US in late 1995. We met up in Menlo Park in early 2000 when he was still living in a motel in Palo Alto. He then visited me in Japan when I was a Visiting Professor in Tsukuba in May 2000. We climbed Mount Fuji together overnight in order to arrive in time for the dawn sunrise (Goraiko) over the surrounding sea of clouds. Typical Nick - before coming to Japan he had spent months reading Japanese classical literature and philosophy in order to prepare himself for the experience. Visiting the temples in Kyoto he was completely at home. This was the last time I saw Nick in person. We emailed occasionally over the years and every year I have googled him to see what he has been doing and where he was up to. I have only just tonight seen these posts and I am deeply saddened. I have just called my Dad - who also remembers Nick very fondly and always asks about him - with the sad news. I have only wonderful memories of such a wonderful person.
