End of an era The San Antonio meeting will be remembered for a vast number of things. Included will be the excellent presentations, opportunities to meet with friends old and new, the exchange of ideas and stories, the opportunity to sample the culture of Texas, and many more. For me, San Antonio represents the closing of a major chapter in the history of the World Aquaculture Society as Juliette Massey's retirement becomes official. I would like to take this opportunity to reflect a bit on my memories of Juliette. In my senior years, my memory may not be quite as sharp as it once was (or maybe it never was), but I believe I was serving on the WAS board when Juliette was hired, back in the late 1980s. She brought a real breath of fresh air to the position of office manager because it became obvious from the beginning that she was totally dedicated to seeing the society succeed. Her loyalty, energy, productivity and positive attitude never waned as she dealt with a number of sometimes difficult presidents and board members (including me) along with radical changes in the operation of the society. It was during Juliette's tenure that WAS turned from publishing a newsletter to a quarterly magazine, called interestingly enough, World Aquaculture. The WAS book series was also initiated, and lest we forget, the Journal of the World Aquaculture Society was launched as a replacement for the proceedings of the meetings of the society (then known as the World_ Mariculture Society). The development of affiliated societies and chapters were major issues as were the finances associated with running the society. During the years that Bill Hershberger, Lou D'Abramo and I moved through the society's presidency starting in about 1990, the question was, "Who's going to turn out the light when we have to close things down?" The society went through hard times and came out stronger. The audacity of 4 MARCH 2007 Juliette Massey a small group of mostly United States scientists creating a global society went undeterred as the World Aquaculture Society actually began to grow into its name. During Juliette's years the society greatly expanded its number of meetings outside the United States, the triennial meetings with the Fish Culture Section of the American Fisheries Society and the National Shellfisheries Association were developed and the leadership of WAS in international aquaculture circles expanded. Juliette was also committed to young people. She got to know the student members and worked diligently to get students more involved with the society. She recognized that the students are the future of the discipline and made them feel welcome. Throughout all the changes mentioned and so many, many more, Juliette stood as a rock, working happily with the revolving door of board members and officers. For several years she suffered through seeing the declining health, and ultimate death of her husband, Phil, without letting the travail interfere with her work for the society. She hired well, with among her successes being the employment of Carol Mendoza who will succeed her. The society recognized Juliette a few years ago and promoted her to Director of the Home Office of WAS. My wife Carolan and I have many pleasurable memories of Juliette. We recall the crawfish boil in Baton Rouge at the Louisiana State University aquaculture facility where we, along with members of the board, ate a table full of crawfish only to find out that another batch had to be cooked for another group. We apparently had consumed their crawfish as well. Another memory is sitting on a balcony with my wife and Juliette in Puerto Rico drinking rum and coke and talking about how the society was going to survive in the face of financial difficulties. The society did survive and is in good shape today. It continues to be a rare example of a truly international scientific society. Much of the success is due to Juliette Massey, a person who had never been outside the United States until she became associated with WAS. I clearly remember how uncomfortable she was when she had to first travel internationally, and how she quickly adapted and came to love the opportunities she had to visit other nations and become familiar with the cultures (including aquaculture practices) of them. Juliette will be missed, but the WAS will go on and continue to grow. She has played a pivotal role in the growth of our society and deserves all the accolades she received in San Antonio. It has been my extreme pleasure having had the opportunity to know and work with Juliette and I, along with my wife Carolan, wish her the very best in her retirement. We're certain that her contributions to our world are not ending, but will only expand as she strikes off in new directions. Good luck Juliette, and come see us. Our door is always open. -Robert R. Stickney
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjExNDY=