“Reds” (Markley Gordon) Wolman died this week. While most of us have not heard of him, there is a whole universe of friends, family, admirers, disciples, students, and beneficiaries who are bereft today, aching as they rarely do upon the loss of an 80-something year old man who lived a full, rewarding and energetic life.

But Reds was no ordinary man. To me, first and foremost, he was the father of an old friend, from way back in high school days. Chana Elsa and I went to Park School together, and while I did not know her father well back then, I could see his imprint and legacy on his remarkable daughter. Even when young, Elsa, as she was known back then, possessed a combination of confidence and humility, like her father; smarts and athletics, like her father; generosity, kindness, a warm laugh and willingness to help anyone who needed her, like her father; a sense of grace and an eye for beauty, like her father. My heart goes out to Chana Elsa and her family at this time of their loss.

But there is of course more to the man. Reds was a pioneer in water courses, streams and how geomorphic forces help shape the land around us. He was like the part of nature he studied, a constant, quiet, influential force, shaping and nourishing the landscape of the lives of those around him just as the water he studied shaped and nourished the landscape around us.

And he was a constant and influential presence at Johns Hopkins University for more than half a century. In addition to his other positions and contributions there, he served as the first director of the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering from 1970-1990, and most recently as director of the Center for Environmental Health Engineering at the Bloomberg School of Public Health.

He was equally known for his kindness to all, from the University president to the greenest, newest, most fearful graduate student. His combination of modesty and brilliance, socratic teaching style and confidence in his students, natural curiosity and a lightness of style, encouraged his students to rise to their greatest capacities.

In his office is a gift from a student of an academic family tree.  As reported in a JHU magazine, “The first few lines show the names of some of Wolman’s early graduate students. Branching off of these names are Wolman’s students’ graduate students in geography and geology and then, those students’ students in these fields. As of 1995, the tree boasted 47 children, 106 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren, and four great-great-grandchildren. It’s still growing.”

Reds understood that to make his scholarship and science meaningful, it couldn’t stay in the ivy-walled academy, but had to move to application. Which is why he had a double appointment to both the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering and the Bloomberg School of Public Health. He was one of the early environmental prophets, walking in his father’s footsteps (Abel Wolman pioneered water safety and devised the formula for safely and effectively chlorinating drinking water).

Reds was a gentle, kind and gifted man, who made everyone around feel the urge and urgency of contributing whatever skills they possessed to the betterment of all. He will be sorely missed.

May his memory serve as a blessing.