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161 AN T I OC H CO L L E G E C L A S S O F 19 6 5 5 0 t h A N N I V E R S A R Y B O O K S T R A K E R STRAKER STEPHEN THEN AND NOW 4 B.A. History STEPHEN STRAKER DIED ON JULY 24, 2004, AT AGE 61. Submitted by Bernie Guyer S T E V E S T R A K E R WA S my first roommate atAntioch inMills/Caldwell in September 1960.We couldn’t have been two more different people; we became friends but decided to find other roommates the next quarter on campus. His father had been an Antiochian and a literary editor in New York. Steve was outgoing, loud, always having fun, but a serious his- torian of science and a scholar. We remained friends to the end and had an amazing, long conversation on the phone only a few months before he died. I regret that I did not see more of him. He died of the complications of ankylosing spondylitis. Steve married Antiochian Karen Coovert when they were still stu- dents and lived in married student housing.We last saw each other when Karen and Steve visited Rochester in 1966, where Jane and I were grad students. They had two children but were later divorced. Steve did his graduate work in the history of science at Indiana. He spent his en- tire academic career teaching at the University of British Columbia. His obituary in the Vancouver newspaper identifies him as,“teacher, Owen Bay Mud Flatter, dad, grandpa, exceptional horseshoe pitcher, brother, perpetual gum boot wearer, husband, and first baseman for the Owls of Minerva... . “Steve grew up in Yonkers, N.Y., and spent his summers in Amherst, Mass.His dissertation on Kepler’s op- tics was much quoted and praised. He was a founding member and pas- sionate advocate of theArts One pro- gram and the Science and Society Group at UBC. Between 1969 and 2003 he inspired generations of stu- dents at UBC through his courses in history and philosophy of science, many of whom remember him as the best teacher they ever had.Their letters ensured that he received the Killam Teaching Prize in 2002, an award that he greatly appreciated, while detesting the fuss. “He challenged all of us to ques- tion what we knew and how we knew it, always following his own unquestionable bedrock of values. He enlivened every social and family gathering with his wry and intelligent wit, penetrating mind, and his good and thoughtful judgment.His favorite spot was sitting in his originalYankee Stadium seats on his front porch with Darlene and friends, sharing a smoke and conversation. He was happy be- hind the wheel of the ‘shady boy’— his big green dieselVW van,where he drank old coffee and marked papers watching tugs on the Fraser. “We remember him early in the morning sitting at the kitchen table at Owen Bay his pants still sopping from a night of farting around with logs un- der a full moon at high tide to make a stiff log. In his last years, he remained young in spirit, while suffering from the effects of debilitating arthritis with good humor and little complaint. “He is survived by his wife Darlene Marzari,his sister Nina Fraser, his children Justin,Francesca Marzari, Robert and Daniel, and his grandchil- dren—Keil and Garnett Straker and Frank Carmichael, for whom he held back the forces of darkness.” The most memorable part of our first conversationwaswhen I askedhim if hewas agood teacher.“Guyer,”he said, “they loved me.”We all did.He sent me the attached photo—it says it all. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Karen and Steve Straker with Jane and Bernie Guyer.