Mordecai P Blaustein
School of Medicine, University of Maryland, USA

https://doi.org/10.36866/pn.110.7a

I recently was browsing through the Summer 2017 issue of Physiology News, and was delighted to see the transcription of the minutes of the Cambridge Meeting of The Physiological Society (May 20-21, 1967, I believe). It brought back many memories. It was my first Society meeting and oral presentation to The Society; I rehearsed my talk so much that I memorised it (was I nervous!). That was the public announcement of our discovery of Na/Ca exchange. Also, I still remember helping Sir Henry Dale into his seat at the dinner in Pembroke, and later being admonished for passing the claret in the wrong direction (what did a provincial know about such things!). As I recall, the July 1967 meeting was in Oxford, and I was reprimanded by Sir Lindor Brown (‘In England we stand when we speak!’). I was sitting in the very centre of the hall when I made a comment during a discussion, and had do to hold my tongue from responding, ‘Yes, but in America we do not embarrass our guests.’

Thanks for helping me recall those memories.

By the way, my last piece in Physiology News, about my postdoctoral experience in the UK evoked several very nice responses – e.g. from David Eisner, Bertil Hille, Otto Hutter & Bill Van der Kloot. The one from Otto led to a wonderful exchange of correspondence and articles.

Thanks again for inviting me to write the memoir.