The memory of one symbolic moment is always with me when I think of Stan. It was when, a few years ago, he read one of the lessons at Emory’s Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. I was delighted to see Stan’s name in the program that year and to learn that he was going to be reading one of my favorite Christmas lessons – the one about the angel announcing news of Christ’s birth to the shepherds. He read with characteristic energy, and I remember hanging on his every word. When he came to the key passage, I don’t know if Stan leaned into the microphone or if there was a glitch in the audio or if I just imagined it because it seemed so fitting, but these words seemed to reverberate around Glenn Memorial with preternatural emphasis: “FEAR NOT, for I bring you good tidings of great joy…”
Ever since that moment, those words “Fear not” have summed up for me one of Stan’s key messages to those of us who had the privilege of being his mentees. They seem to say, “Don’t worry, you’ll make mistakes. We all do. But, as long as you listen to the community, attend to the data, adjust strategy accordingly, and stay humble and do your best, it’ll all work out.” It is both a reassuring and a humbling message when it comes from a true public health hero. And it aligns perfectly with Stan’s incredibly touching way of chuckling at his own foibles.
The world is so abundantly a better place for Stan’s life. And our lives – both personal and professional – are so much better for having been beneficiaries of his wisdom, generosity, profound kindness, and joie de vivre. Thank you, Stan!