Jeff Medkeff, The Blue Collar Scientist, 1968 – 2008

I never met the man in person, but through his Blue Collar Scientist blog, Jeff Medkeff did so much to inspire so many, including me. He wrote with deep love of science, with a talent for making himself understood so you would sit back and say, “ohkaayy, now it makes sense”, and with pointed wit.

I didn’t really know the man so all I can do is talk about my experience of him: he was the first person to link to my blog (to a post I did about his naming of some asteroids he discovered), and also gave me the opportunity to contribute a post to his blog, which I will forever be holding up as a triumph. I’m sad that I’ll never get to know more of him than that.

Jeff has left a legacy in the skies, not just with the asteroids he discovered and the one named for him, but also because he was a passionate astronomer, and it will be difficult to look at the stars without thinking of him.

This is very much our loss.