In Memory of Seymour Laxon

Seymour examined my PhD thesis in 2011 and we worked in the same project since. The more I worked with him the more I liked him.

Anyone who knew Seymour can imagine what it was like to have him as an examiner. He had a very good understanding of the weaknesses of my work and let me know them in his characteristic way. I left the viva much wiser than I arrived.

A pint or two with Seymour was always good fun. Even when Andy Ridout (accidentally) bought a round of foul tasting wild-yeast fermented lambic -style beer in Mikkeller bar. The look on Seymour’s face after the first sip was unforgettable.

In addition to the brilliant scientist there was another side to Seymour. Another evening in Copenhagen, we were in “Bar Obelix” which Seymour had just found the previous night and it was a splendid place (no lambic beer there). I had become a father myself three months earlier and I asked Seymour how does one cope with fatherhood and all of the irrational worrying that comes with it. He told me that the worrying never stops - he still sometimes checks up on Imogen in the middle of the night just to see that she is allright.

You will be missed, Seymour.