April 2012
74 posts
Mauricio Avila, UW
I went to Madison Wisconsin in 1995, as a student with Phillip Barak. I thought I was there for just a Maters in Soil Chemistry, but sometime in 1998 Phil asked me if I would be interested in a PhD. He had funding for a 5 year long project researching soil acidification processes in agro-ecosystems… I was elated… But I was even happier when I had the opportunity to meet the man behind the plots I...
Tom Remington, Africa
Josh has been an adviser, mentor and friend since we were together in the Gambia in the mid eighties. Before Josh, I thought that all one had to do was slightly better than everyone else. Josh set an extremely high bar for himself and for everyone else on this team, a performance bar that you were expected to clear. I explain to people that in doing my PhD in rice systems under Josh, I learned...
Robert Hofstede, Ecuador
Dear Jill, Jess and Matt
My name is Robert; you might have heard from me although we never met each other. However, I feel I know you a lot because Josh always was so full of stories about his family and kept us continuously updated.
I am that Dutch guy that lives in Ecuador and worked with Josh for years setting up the regional Paramo project. I am proud to call him my friend, and after he...
Daniel Plane, Madison
I’ve known Matthew since Kindergarten. I remember Josh as joking, engaging, and practiced at giving Matt a hard time about almost anything.
One day I was over for dinner - Matt and I must have been about 13 - and I didn’t want to take my hat off at the table. Josh proceeded to explain to me that they have a family rule, a simple rule, that you either get to wear your hat or your pants at the...
CONDESAN, Andes
Hasta pronto, Joshua…
Hoy, la comunidad del desarrollo en los Andes se ha levantado con una triste noticia: el querido colega y amigo Joshua Posner, falleció esta madrugada en la ciudad de Madison (Estados Unidos) después de una larga lucha por superar el cáncer.
Josh, como era conocido por todos, se doctoró en Agronomía en la Universidad de Cornell (1978), con una especialidad en economía...
Memorial Service for Joshua
We will gather at the Memorial Union in the Tripp Commons Room at 3pm on Friday April 27th for a celebration of Joshua Posner’s life. There will be another smaller service in New York in June. Thank you, Jessica, Matt and Jill
Amy Cook, UW
What a legacy
I’ve been reading the messages left by others over the past few days, and am simultaneously awestruck and unsurprised by all the wonderful stories, memories, accomplishments and moments that you’ve made in your life. You really knew how to get to the bones of an issue, and how to inspire your students to dig and dig to get the answers, write them up perfectly, and defend them...
Patricio Mena, Ecuador,
I met Josh only a few times within the Andean Paramo Project, of which he was one of the academic advisors… but every single time is so memorable because he was such a kind, thoughtful and funny guy. He always introduced himself as “Josué” to a Spanish-speaking audience, and that is a small but perhaps deep symbol of the kind of person he was and will always be. Chao, Josh. We’ll miss you a lot.
Fredrick Baron, Amherst
Josh – In the summer of 1967, you came to St. Louis to camp out at my house, just as Dave Michelmore, Larry Dilg, and I were also using my house as a staging area for our departure to Mississippi. We were preparing to tutor black kids who were about to integrate white Mississippi schools that fall in the last year of the implementation of Brown v. Board of Education. I have no memory of exactly...
Luis Iniguez, Bolivia, Madison
It will be difficult for us not to think about Josh whenever visiting Madison. We will always feel he will be there and would look for him near to the Union place in the lake waterfront, where he used to seat on Fridays with friends and students. It has been a privilege for me to work with him learning of his scientific talents, technical approaches, sincerity, honesty and commitments to help the...
Doug Wyu and Sophie Miller, UW, China
Dear all, and especially to Josh’s family,
Sophie and I feel privileged to have met Josh in one of his many incarnations as scholar and teacher. When we first arrived at KIZ, it gave me a real boost to hear that Wisconsin was sending its students to Yunnan, and that was down to Josh’s vision and willingness to lead an IGERT project in China. We have benefited from the many students...
Fred Hoxie, Amherst
I have never been able to shake the odor of the Deke bar from my memory. Despite the many noble thoughts we shared there. Despite the rock and roll music we caned to there (‘wait till the midnight hour’, ‘standing in the shadow of love’, ‘satisfaction’). Despite the sweet memory of all the girls we ogled there. What remains: the smell of stale beer. That just...
Andres Betancourth, Colombia
Querida familia Posner,
Pude agradecer a Josh la úlitma vez que nos vimos. Hoy agradezco a ustedes por “prestarnos” a Josh y permitir que su energía germinara en Los Andes. Somos muchos los que gozamos de su sabiduría, y quienes podemos demostrar que sus sueños sobre un mundo mejor son posibles. Hace unos años, yo era un joven que no tenía recursos para estudiar, y conocí a Josh, Elías, Rubén y...
Philippe and Anne-Marie Jouve, France
Dear Jill,
C’est avec beaucoup de peine qu’Anne-Marie et moi avons appris le décès de Josh. Nous ne pensions pas que la maladie le rattraperait aussi vite. Nous te disons toute notre affection et te souhaitons beaucoup de courage pour surmonter cette épreuve.
C’est en Casamance que j’ai rencontré Josh pour la première fois et ce sont nos longues discussions sur les « systèmes...
Emily Matson, UW
From the time I arrived at UW as a new grad student, it was obvious that Josh had an adventurous spirit and a genuine respect for people which opened doors for him across the globe. Josh’s past work in the Andes was part of the inspiration for my research in Ecuador, a project that he thoughtfully helped me design. When I met with his colleagues in Ecuador they would ask how Josh was doing and we...
In lieu of flowers
Thank you all who have asked about how to commemorate Josh. He always called one of his two granddaughter’s (Sophia) his ‘littlest angel’ and while heart breaking, the way Sophia would would give her grandfather advice on receiving chemotherapy was very touching. We would like to request that in lieu of flowers, a donation to the Childhood Brain Tumor Foundation ...
Trisha Wagner, UW
Like so many others who have written here, Josh had a lot of influence in my life as well. My graduate research with Josh at UW introduced me to many great people and resources including UW Extension agriculture agents -which is where I now work. He also opened my eyes to the Peace Corps -an experience for me that has yet to be matched.
May the memories we have of Josh, and his valuable...
Ricardo Ikeda, Evanston, Peru
I want to take the chance to thank Josh and the Posners for their kindness and hospitality. I had the pleasure of meeting Josh just last summer when I arrived to the US as a grad student. I spent a week with the Posners in Elkhart Lake, WI where we celebrated Josh’s birthday. It is here where I experienced Josh’s kindness by welcoming to his family’s home and where I saw what a loving husband,...
Kiersten Warning, UW, China
Dear Josh, > > Greetings from Lugu Lake! Fieldwork is going magically well and I attach a picture of a tiny field in Luoshui with mounds of fertilizer to be worked in for cornfields. > > Josh you have given me so much and my work will forever be enriched because of your vision, tutelage, and direction for IGERT students. I can’t thank you enough. > > In my belief system...
Rosa y Beto Brunn, Bolivia
Dearest Jill, Matt, and Jess, we are so sorry for your loss. Of all our friends, we had expected Josh to out live us all. My father passed away before I was six so I know you all were as blessed as he to have him in your lives for so many years. He did in deed bring an enthusiasm for life and an expetation that even the toughest challenges like IBTA in the early 1990s when we all met could be...
Ruben Dario, Maria Eugenia, Manuel y Andres-...
Quiero mandar un mensaje de condolencia a toda la familia. Josh fue un extraordinario ser humano. Debemos estar agradecidos con Dios que nos haya permitido compartir con él tantos momentos extaordinarios donde su bondad e inteligencia la puso al servicios de los mas pobres. Es un momento duro para la familia pero el recuerdo de Josh será un apoyo permanente para seguir adelante. Toda la familia...
David Fox, Africa, France
So soon.
When I receivedyour first email I couldn’t bring myself to believe that the end might be soimminent.
So young.
But for me Josh was always a young man. When I first met him in Côte d’Ivoirehe barely knew how to grow tomatoes, and he went on to become aninternationally renowned professor of agronomy. And yet he was always a youngman, with the enthusiasm of a young man, ready for new...
John, Elisa & Thora Collins Zinda, UW
Dear Jess,
Condolences from me and my family. I’m a student in the China IGERT program at UW. Like all the other people whose words and images you have been so kind to post, Josh left a deep impression on me. Open-hearted, upbeat in tough situations, and just a generally great guy, he was a benison to everyone, always doing what he could to make relationships happen and flourish.
...
Francisco Morales, Peru, Cornell
I just heard the sad news this morning and I am already grieving the loss of a friend from our hectic but fun Cornell days. Fortunately, this friendship continued all this time and I had the pleasure of having Josh over for lunch not long ago, during one of his visits to Lima and CIP. It is strange to see that it is raining right now in Lima, in a city where “it never rains”, let alone at this...
Mary Saunders, UW grad student
It is just early April and the flowers are out: hyacinths, tulips, crabapples, redbuds, cherry blossoms, blooming madly. The farmers are bustling, road construction in full swing; the sun warms the pavement, the lakes, and the land. As if the spring rose up to meet him.
In his office, across the broad wooden desk, we butted heads as often as we agreed. He was an exasperating pollyanna, a...
Natalia Bolanos, Peru
The ComPosners and their influence on a peruana
I want Matt, Jill, Jessie and Josh to know how important the Posners are for me, and have been for years. Jill’s help with college nightmares; Josh’s warmth for a girl he barely knew; taking me in over Thanksgiving x2 and sharing the coziness of a home; just making me feel at home when I was far away from my own. I have the absolute best memories...
Dave Edie, Amherst, Madison
Some fond Josh moments:
· Josh as a charismatic, fiery anti-Vietnam war leader – a real force on campus
· Our outstanding Amherst room group of 8 in Peter Ponds—I think we set new records for laughing (sometimes enhanced by special substances)
· Our Edie-Posner family get-togethers, with our sons escalating water warfare—from squirt guns, to water balloons to super-soakers (Josh was the evil...
Deirdre Garton, Amherst, Madison
Dear, dear Josh, I hardly know how to put words to these feelings but that is what words are for - to help us understand what is happening and to let people know how we feel. One never knows how friendships will evolve. At Amherst, I thought of you as one of the tall guys who lived next to Joe and Dave, guys who did crazy things like “bare arms” at wild theatrical productions like The...
Prue Posner, sister
> Hi Josh, > > I may arrive before this does. sometimes I think emails circle the world before getting to their destination. Two memories - well three - keep me smiling. The first you don’t remember at all, but the baby nurse who took care of you loved to frighten 4 year old me and 3 year old Debbie by calling you lambchop and threatening to cook you and serve you for dinner. We...
Jerry Doll, UW
Josh, > > On this refreshing March day, I seem to remember a spring ritual: > walking like a drunken sailor (as in zig zag) in fields in the Walworth > Co. Farm and the Arlington ARS. Don’t recall doing it one one as windy > as today but it was often on the cool side, even had some frost in the > ground some years. > > But one of the clearer memories of the WICST...
Tom Kelly, Amherst
Josh,
While I amnot sure we ever exchanged more than a hello during our college days, yourpresence and personhood remain ever vivid to me for two reasons. One relates to a comment you made during ourfreshman orientation session where we were discussing the summer reading. You used the word ‘penultimate’ in describinga particular insight you had about one of the books. At the time, feeling...
Jim Griffiths, Amherst
Hi Josh,
Anyways, when Dick told me what was going on, a ton of memories came flashing back. Dude, do you remember that it was you that set me up w/ Barb at the beginning of sophomore year? Lordy, for some dear reason you had taken it upon yourself to try and see that I got over my breakup freshman year with that girl from Holyoke. Well, you did good, my friend. Do you also remember sophomore...
Gary Ender, Cornell
Why do I love Josh? Because he is the only one who can poke fun at me with such a big smile and in such a way that I immediately start laughing at myself.
Josh, you are in our thoughts all the time. Last night I put on a mint condition Amherst sweatshirt that I must have acquired on a trip to visit Samantha. When I took it out and put it on, I immediately thought of you...
WatchJosh during second chemo treatment responding to his granddaughter’s suggestion that he find the coloring room in the hospital to pass time.
Liz Posner, niece
Dear Uncle Josh —
I’m writing you this note now with the hopes that maybe Jess is still reading to you. I wanted to share some memories with you that make me smile.
I remember my trip to Bolivia, when I was 17 years old. I remember meeting everyone in the Miami airport (Jess was in tears because she had just said good bye to her high school sweetheart Steven) and embarking on the...
Mark Powell, Madison
Dear Josh, > > Understand that you are home with lots of folks around. Just what you like! > So sorry to know you are not as mobile as you would like. > But hope you are coping, realizing that aspect of > your situation is real tough for you, Josh. Wish > I could just pop over and hang out for a bit…but > that will have to wait until May 4. We arrive > back in Madison the...
Fred Hoxie, Amherst
Dear Josh Where is that Chevrolet now? Was it really a blue convertible? I remember that there was a sign on the dash that said “this car will disintegrate at speeds over 50 MPH.” We were so cool riding around in that car! Did we take it out to a reservoir with a bunch of girls one beautiful spring day. I hope that memory is correct. I think we had a great time. Please confirm....
