Bill Hamilton

[Thalassamania]

I received word last night of the death of R.W. "Bill" Hamilton, Ph.D. He died of natural causes, surrounded by his family and some of his many friends. Bill made many lasting, significant contributions in the fields of diving physiology, medicine, research and education, to name a few. Services will be held this Sunday in Tarrytown, NY.

Bill loved life and the diving world, if you have sea stories about him (and I have a few) please post them here in his memory.

Did any of you know that BIll was in the same flight class as Buz Aldrin? I didn't know that (and nether did they) till the "re-met" at an Explorer's Club dinner. I introduced them and they did that, "I know you, but from where thing." It turned out they went through flight training together. I have some pictures of them together that I'll have to scan and post.

Bill's death was quite a shock to me, I guess as we age we should learn to expect such things, but I've just reached the point where I'm starting to lose friends to natural causes rather than accidents, and that's taking some adjustment.

Working on writing up memories of Bill, is an interesting process, since I now realize that over the three plus decades that we worked and played together, we never went diving, hell, I don't know if Bill ever actually dove. I do remember a panel discussion in Philly, Bill was up there with a bunch of the big deep/tech types and at the end of the panel it was opened up to the floor for questions. Someone asked Bill what he would do if he suddenly found himself too deep and Bill replied, "why I'd pull the plug in the tub, of course."

That was classic Bill Hamilton. I think that the secret to Bill was the as much enjoyed, vicariously, our underwater daring-do as we enjoyed his incredible knowledge, generosity and sense of humor.

[nimblethink]

I grew up knowing Bill:I remember visiting Tarrytown Labs (when I was 7? 8?) and seeing a human subject cycling away inside a hyperbaric chamber.

When our family went to his home once in the 1980's for dinner he was proud to show a framed sheet of plywood tacked up above the fireplace.
Bill explained that it had been the floor of a cage for a pig being used for physiology experiments, as pigs' pulmonary system is very similar to the human one.
During its stay in the cage the pig had worn away at the plywood floor -- but only in certain areas -- to eventually produce a self-portrait of a pig's head in profile.

When I visited his home this past January he was proud to show me his sewing machine.
He said that he brought a sewing machine with him when he was deployed to Viet Nam and everyone thought he was crazy to bring a sewing machine.
As it turns out, all the other pilots and personnel kept coming to him to have their patches sewn on.

He will be missed terribly.

When you have your memories written up, may I request a copy?
Leif Kirschenbaum
leifk@nimblethink.com

[Thalassamania]

I'll add yours and be sure his wife, Ruby, gets it.