From Lester R. Drewes

“Stickler and Encouragement” By Lester R. Drewes

The musical sounds of a calliope and drums drifted into the street from the nearby Tivoli Gardens. That was the prelude to my first recollection of Norman Saunders at the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, August 23, 1998 in Copenhagen. (See photo.) This was the beginning of many encounters with a person with great wit, deep knowledge of his trade, impatience for ignorance, and generous with encouragement.

Norman is an expert in the field of the choroid plexus, CSF dynamics, and development and function of the blood-CSF barrier. Using traditional methods is quite acceptable to Norman, but when a proven improvement comes along, the old should be discarded. He was a stickler for scolding many brain barrier novices who claimed to measure “opening of the blood-brain barrier with Evan’s blue dye staining” when a fluorescent dextran would do much better. Personally, however, I will always remember the advice and counsel that he generously provided during the fledging days of the International Brain Barrier Society (IBBS). Once on a Long Island Railway train on the way to Cold Spring Harbor, we had a half hour dialog concerning IBBS bottlenecks and political travails. His ability to listen, to analyze, to separate the chaff and immediately propose solutions was for me like an ethereal visit with Confucius. This was combined with absolutely staunch encouragement to continue on a goal-oriented path. I am eternally grateful for his kindness, friendship and guidance in moving the field and our community forward.