Seymour Laxon … a name engraved into me as the first to publish a paper about Arctic sea ice thickness distribution from satellite remote sensing data. This was a milestone and will ever be.
Although I met Seymour about ten years ago it took me until a year or so ago to get into contact with him more. I started to rate him really high as a colleague, being careful with the science he carried out, and the conclusions and interpretations he made. I got to know him as a quiet, thoughtful colleague, as somebody who was first thinking before the words came out. Despite the fact that he was a key person in his field with an immense amount of experience, I got the impression that he was open for new things and ideas, which is an admirable attitude for somebody having worked in the same field for about two decades.
Unfortunately, I missed the chance to get to know Seymour better which I would have loved to do. I wish us scientists the capability to, once in while, slow down our pace and stop constantly searching for more money, honor, and success when working together with our colleagues but to also see the human being behind. From what I can read about Seymour here on these memorial pages I’d say that he really had this capacity and lived this capability.
What a loss!
I wish his family to stand strong together, to help each other, and to find a way to turn the picture of Seymour, which is painted by colleagues and friends, into a positive heart-warming spirit.
