<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">a sweet memory, Tom!</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">pdavid</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 7:35 PM Tom Nicholson <<a href="mailto:T.Nicholson@massey.ac.nz">T.Nicholson@massey.ac.nz</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div class="msg4117157812010063848">
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Kia ora, everyone,<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Here are some of my memories of Bob Dykstra …<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">When Nora and I peered into Bob Dykstra’s office at U Minnesota in the 1970s, I was slightly star-struck, there he was, the co-author of the First Grade Studies (FGS). When
he saw us at the door, to say he was surprised was an understatement but he welcomed us in. I’d applied to do a doctorate and had managed to gain acceptance but he had advised me to wait until the following year. However, I was so excited about getting accepted
that we just packed up our things in Adelaide, sold everything, and flew to Minneapolis. So there we were, standing at his door, he must have thought what the hell do I do now? Yet a few days later I was enrolled and had some TA work. Bob and his wife Lou
Ann had us poor students many times to their home for dinner. This is where we saw another side of Bob – the singer. At Minnesota, I felt totally supported and Bob never wavered from that even when I once had to convince the graduate committee that my thesis
ideas were not totally crazy. As Bob’s TA, the job I remember most was to retrieve boxes of computer punch cards from the basement of Burton Hall. Someone wanted to re-analyse the FGS data. There I was, looking at this huge pile of cards. I think there were
30,000 children in the study. At the time, I had never even seen a computer, so to me the cards were like gold bars. A couple of years ago, I got an email out of the blue from Bob, he’d seen a hand-painted birthday card I’d sent to a friend and wrote to say
hi. It was nice to reconnect briefly. Now he is gone, a person much loved not just by those closest to him but also by some far away.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Nga mihi, tom<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">From:</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> Reading-hall-of-fame <<a href="mailto:reading-hall-of-fame-bounces@lists.nottingham.ac.uk" target="_blank">reading-hall-of-fame-bounces@lists.nottingham.ac.uk</a>>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>P David Pearson<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, 6 February 2024 8:57 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> reading hall of fame <<a href="mailto:reading-hall-of-fame@lists.nottingham.ac.uk" target="_blank">reading-hall-of-fame@lists.nottingham.ac.uk</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [Reading-hall-of-fame] A heartfelt loss<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">I learned just 36 hours ago that Robert Dykstra died in his early 90s. I have not had time to think about a more professional memory, but I will. In the meantime, here is a more personal memory, which I shared with his kids and their
families.<u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(5,5,5)">I have so many wonderful memories of your Dad.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(5,5,5)">First, as a teacher: I took two of his courses as a doc student at Minnesota in the late 1960s. Fair, encouraging--but willing to let you know when your logic or writing
was sloppy.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(5,5,5)">Second, as a scholar: Whose commitment to improving the teaching and learning of reading, writing, and language was a model I tried to emulate.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(5,5,5)">Third, as my boss: He chaired the department I was in at Minnesota-fairly, firmly, with the right balance of gravitas and humor.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(5,5,5)">Fourth, as a comrade: from the mid 1970s through 2015, he and I belonged to an informal group of "guys" who met on the first weekend in June to travel from Minneapolis
to one or another resort-affiliated golf course in northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, or (on 3 occasions) Iowa for an extended weekend during which we fine-tuned our skills at our 3 favorite pastimes: golf, poker, and gastronomic (both food and libations) delights.
We got the idea of creating a faux organization to camouflage our real intentions, so we created Lodge 1147, with fake officers to run the faux organization. We regrouped every summer, with two of us returning from new homes across the country, for 38 years
before death, frailty, and memory began to decimate our numbers. I moved from Minneapolis in 1978, but returned every year to connect with this special group of guys to reminisce, lampoon one another, and laugh a lot at the world and ourselves. My last trip
to Minnesota for this event was in 2015. Reconnecting and visiting one on one with Bobby D, as we called him, was a top priority for me. Somehow, across all those years, we managed to pick up in mid sentence from the year before.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(5,5,5)">Such good memories. Such a quietly warm and modestly kind human being. Such a friend. I miss him, but am comforted by these memories. <u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(5,5,5)">Gravitas and Humor<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">That is how I will remember him.<u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">David<u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="m_4117157812010063848gmailsignatureprefix">-- </span><u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif">+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<b><span style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue",serif">"If you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else."
</span></b><span style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue",serif">Toni Morrison</span><u></u><u></u></p>
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<b><span style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue",serif">"</span></b><b><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,35,74);border:1pt solid windowtext;padding:0cm">The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any."</span></b><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:rgb(0,35,74);border:1pt solid windowtext;padding:0cm"> Alice
Walker</span><u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif">+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif">P. David Pearson<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif">Evelyn Lois Corey
<b>Emeritus</b> Professor of Instructional Science<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif">Graduate School of Education<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif">University of California, Berkeley<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif">email: <a href="mailto:ppearson@berkeley.edu" target="_blank">ppearson@berkeley.edu</a><u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif">other e-mail: <a href="mailto:pdavidpearsondean@gmail.com" target="_blank">pdavidpearsondean@gmail.com</a><u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><u><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif">website for publications</span></u><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif">: <a href="http://www.pdavidpearson.org/" target="_blank">www.pdavidpearson.org</a><u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif">PDP's
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxzlpPFD04yyV5_kzRZ1ofw" target="_blank">
YouTube Channel</a>: <u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif">*******************<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;color:rgb(103,78,167)">Please use HOME ADDRESS for responses</span></b><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(34,34,34)">110 41st Street, Apt 401<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(34,34,34)">Oakland CA 94611-5237<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif">iPhone: 510 543 6508<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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</div></blockquote></div><br clear="all"><div><br></div><span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><span style="border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:0px"><span style="border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:0px"><div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:0px"><div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:0px"><div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:0px"><div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:0px"><div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:0px"><div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:0px"><div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:0px"><div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:0px"><div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:0px"><div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div style="font-size:12px;font-family:Helvetica">+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++<br></div><div><p style="margin:0px;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-size-adjust:none"><b><font face="Helvetica Neue">"If you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else." </font></b><font face="Helvetica Neue">Toni Morrison</font></p><p style="margin:0px;font-style:normal;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal;font-size-adjust:none"><b style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue"">"</b><span style="color:rgb(40,40,41);background-image:none;background-position:0% 0%;background-repeat:repeat"><span style="border-style:solid;border-width:0px;color:rgb(0,35,74)"><font face="arial, sans-serif" style="font-weight:bold">The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any."</font><font face="-apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, Segoe UI, Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, Helvetica Neue, sans-serif"> Alice Walker</font></span></span></p></div><div style="font-size:12px;font-family:Helvetica">+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++</div><div style="font-size:12px;font-family:Helvetica">P. David Pearson</div><div style="font-size:12px;font-family:Helvetica">Evelyn Lois Corey <b>Emeritus</b> Professor of Instructional Science</div><div style="font-size:12px;font-family:Helvetica">Graduate School of Education</div><div style="font-size:12px;font-family:Helvetica">University of California, Berkeley</div><div style="font-size:12px;font-family:Helvetica"><br></div><div style="font-size:12px;font-family:Helvetica">email: <a href="mailto:ppearson@berkeley.edu" target="_blank">ppearson@berkeley.edu</a></div><div style="font-size:12px;font-family:Helvetica">other e-mail: <a href="mailto:pdavidpearsondean@gmail.com" target="_blank">pdavidpearsondean@gmail.com</a></div><div style="font-size:12px;font-family:Helvetica"><span style="text-decoration:underline">website for publications</span>: <a href="http://www.pdavidpearson.org" target="_blank">www.pdavidpearson.org</a></div><div style="font-size:12px;font-family:Helvetica">PDP's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxzlpPFD04yyV5_kzRZ1ofw" target="_blank">YouTube Channel</a>: </div><div style="font-size:12px;font-family:Helvetica"><br></div><div style="font-size:12px;font-family:Helvetica">*******************<br></div><div style="font-size:12px;font-family:Helvetica"><b><font color="#674ea7">Please use HOME ADDRESS for responses</font></b></div><div style="font-size:12px;font-family:Helvetica"><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">110 41st Street, Apt 401</div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Oakland CA 94611-5237</div></div><div style="font-size:12px;font-family:Helvetica">iPhone: 510 543 6508</div><div style="font-size:12px;font-family:Helvetica">****************************************</div><div style="font-size:12px;font-family:Helvetica"><br></div></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>