Saturday, February 1, 2025
Civilization advances on the hard work of applied intellect. Without respect, it crumbles. Thank you Mark.
I knew Mark as a quiet intellectual power. He was a kind, soft-spoken man who understood how to distinguish fact from fiction, who was ready and able to share his understanding when asked. The far-too-little-time I spent in his company was at gatherings of mostly artists, writers, performer—you know, the people who are often more-shy than their work would suggest.
Mark was a professional writer, historian, student of science and its contributions to our world; a deep reader and researcher who was always interested in stories and characters. By his own description, a fiction writer initially, Mark understood that scientific advancement is a story with genuine characters. And so, he wrote Oppenheimer, A Life in Twilight: The Final Years of J. Robert Oppenheimer (2008). Mark praised the 2023 film titled Oppenheimer, calling it a masterpiece. He was on to something as finally we see a worldwide interest in the subject of his book.
Mark wrote six books and contributed to well-known publications like Air & Space Smithsonian, Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, Scientific American, MIT Press, the Atlantic. He also contributed to local publications and was a panelist for the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society annual convention.
With fathoms of respect, I celebrate the life of our kind friend, Mark Wolverton.
