Birthday Wishes

We finally have seen your wonderful birthday site. Such a wonderful day for such a wonderful person. We hope you have many more birthdays. We have been so lucky to have gotten to know you and many of your students whom we dearly love. We hope to see you soon!

Wow, the 90th and going strong. Congratulations Eric. I'm looking forward to your next one, the three digit one. This day, your day, made me think of our sail on Pleasant Bay at Cape Cod, and years later of your visit to our home in Belfast, Maine. And perhaps just as momentous the dinner you treated us to in SF's Chinatown, the best Chinese meal ever. I could go on and on remembering all the way back to the Kachel's when I first got to know and admire you. Stay well. With love,

Dear Eric! Thank you so much for sending us the website your sons set up of your 90th birthday! We certainly did enjoy to look at all the photographs and I was happy to discover some familiar faces. / It is 34 years ago that I met you, came to your lab and spent a great year with you, your wonderful wife Louise and many nice people in Davis and vicinity. This year was a very exciting one for me and looking back it was the best I ever had! It is thanks to you, your generosity, helpfulness and friendship that my year in California turned out to be an indescribable precious experience which I will NEVER forget! I found friends for my whole life and coming back in 2009 with my family after many years I found out that nothing important had changed: the overwhelming friendship we were offered wherever we came made me feel coming home! / Bernd and myself are doing fine and are busy with daily life. We are grateful to be healthy and in good shape. / Best wishes to you, dear Eric, as well as to Michael and Kevin. / A big hug and lots of love,

Dear Eric, looking at all the nice photos from your birthday party, I really regret that I could not attend. However, I see you on some photos active, smiling (as mostly) and as a grandseigneur. I hope my wishes and some flowers reached you on time. I also hope that before you will be 95, we will meet again personally. With my best personal greetings and wishes, Adolf Nahrstedt

Hi Eric We just got your card and caught up with the fact you were 90 2 days ago. Congratulations! I had never realised we share the same birthday, but I am a few years behind you! I hope you had a great day. Mike & Trish

Dear Dr. Conn: Michele and I send our Birthday wishes to you and look forward to sharing in your celebration. It was both an honor and pleasure to be part of your wonderful and productive lab and I thank you for all of your guidance and support during my postdoc years. I am also grateful for the opportunity to have met the other graduate students and postdocs working in your lab at that time. Our time in Davis was one of the most enjoyable and rewarding times of our lives. We develped so many wonderful friendships while in Davis. Of course our best memory is the fact we were married in Davis! You are a truly remarkable scholar and gentleman and we will always be grateful for your friendship, and the warmth and hospitality extended to us by your wonderful family. Gary and Michele

Dear Eric, What a privilege and pleasure it is to be sharing this day with you. It is clear from the messages here that nice guys finish first, both in life time achievements and in the esteem of their family, friends and colleagues. Corinne and I have benefited so very much from the start I received in your lab and from the very solid personal and professional support we received from you and your family. Best wishes for a very happy birthday.

Dear Eric, Christa and I wish you a very happy 90th birthday with a great party, and we sincerely hope that you are going to stay in such a good shape as you are by now in all the next years coming to you. We are very sorry that we are not able to come to your birthday party, but we certainly will be there in our thoughts. We will also remember all the good things which Louise and you have done to us, and we are forever grateful for them. Please give our greetings also to Michael and Kevin, and the people we know at the birthday party. All the best to you

Eric, We celebrate with you your 90th birthday in January! We are sorry we cannot come to the party. i am 85 now and quickly approaching yours! We had fun in the lab at UC Davis and I remember publishing two research papers with you in the summer of 1965. Our careers have carried us far and our friendships farther. All the best, George

Doctor Conn: The Poulton Family wishes you all the very best for your 90th birthday and 2013! We are sorry that we cannot be with you, Michael, Kevin, other family members and friends tomorrow at the party to celebrate that special milestone in your life, but we shall be thinking of you at Putah Creek Lodge. I have much to thank you for. When I accepted to have dinner with the seminar speaker one night in Freiburg in 1976, I never for one instant imagined what a major role that person would play in my private and academic life... an opportunity to cross the Pond to work for a world-renowned plant biochemist, to work alongside such fine individuals as Jim Saunders, Mineo Kojima, Sue Thayer, Rowell Potts, Dave Seigler, Wolfgang Hoesel, Alain Boudet, John Dunn, Dennis Clegg, Joe Olechno, and so many others (apologies for any glaring omissions to this list!), an introduction to the fields of coumarin biosynthesis and cyanogenesis, mentoring me on how best to run a research lab, interact with students and faculty colleagues, and deliver informative and exciting lectures, and your willingness to write supporting my application for a faculty position at The University of Iowa, where I undertook the remaining 31 years of my scientific career. Indirectly then, you were also responsible for my meeting my wife Susie, and I'm grateful to you for that! I have many happy memories of my UC-Davis days. Among them, the way in which you, Louise, Michael, and Kevin made us feel so welcome at your home. We had many get-togethers there, enjoying delicious meals cooked by Louise. Other times, you would challenge the Guiness Book of Records for the number of lab members that could be squeezed (illegally, I suspect) into that station wagon of yours to be ferried downtown to an eating establishment whose name is sadly long forgotten now. Being of slender build, I was often the last to be added to the back before the hatch was slammed shut on my nose! Boy, did we have fun! And talking of Putah Creek, there were those times when you would take small groups of us down by the Creek, stopping to crush and sniff selected plants during these guided tours. Yes, we did receive a few suspicious glances from passers-by, but these were always special tours given by an excellent mentor to lucky recipients like ourselves. By now you're probably wondering how many more stories I shall produce out of my hat, so I shall leave you with one final one. Susie and I were honored that you and Louise would travel to Bellevue, Iowa, to attend our wedding in 1990; that meant so much to both of us. Enjoy your 90th birthday! Have a great day! Please pass my best wishes to any who might remember me including my first graduate student Gary Kuroki, who, like me, had the honor and great pleasure of working for you as a post-doc. I'll let you know when Susie and I are coming your way next so that we have a chance to visit with you. Best wishes, - Jonathan Poulton

Dear Uncle Eric, Happy Birthday! Although we live far apart, I have so enjoyed corresponding with you over the years and very much appreciate all that you've shared about our family's history. Dave and I have finally given in to our children and adopted an active puppy, and between the puppy and school schedules we will not be visiting from Boston, but please know that we will be thinking of you on Sunday! Best wishes for many more years of health and happiness. - Chris, Dave, Isaac & Sarah Margaret

Happy New Year and Happy Birthday Eric! I am looking forward to the event on January 6 ... but being an absent minded professor I seemed to have misplaced the invitation.... What time does the event start on the 6th? Cheers and Best Wishes, Dennis Clegg (undergrad in Conn Lab, 1976-77) - UC Santa Barbara

Only a week and a half to go to the big DAY! Happy Birthday, Dr. Conn, and many happy returns as well. 1923 to 2013... quite a time span and quite a series of accomplishments found within. Well done, Eric! Birthday card via U.S. Postal Service to follow. - Love, Scott & Joanne

Chuck Conn Uncle Eric: Congratulations on your 90th birthday !!! We, as your family, are very proud of all your accomplishments over the years. You have always demonstrated wonderful patience and kindness to everyone. One memory we have is how you and Aunt Louise raised your two boys with gentle guidance as to what was acceptable and what was not. Our father Cleatis kept us advised to your whereabouts as you received grants to England, etc. It was always enjoyable when you would come and you and Aunt Louise would share all the fun and interesting adventures you had in different countries. And all the photos of your travels you sent to us. (Paula) What I (Chuck) remember is whenever you came to Denver (at Christmas, I think) we would go to downtown Denver and have Chinese food at the Lotus Room. I loved learning how to use chopsticks there. It came in handy when I was in China for 5 different short-term mission trips. Karen and I are in Colorado spending Christmas with Paula. We regret we cannot make it to your birthday celebration and not getting to see Michael and Kevin, either, on your very special day. We send our best wishes and love to you. Have a very Happy Birthday celebration and know we will be thinking of you.

Dear Dr. Conn, If life is a journey, it has surely been a fantastic journey for you! We feel so proud to have been a part of your life, in whatever small way. We frequently reminisce about the wonderful times we've had with you and your family over the years; those memories are amongst our most treasured. You are someone who has touched so many lives and changed them for the better and we know this because our lives have been incredibly enriched because of our relationship with you. Thank you for being a part of our life. We wish you the same happiness that you have given us to you on your birthday. Although we're disappointed that we cannot join the festivities with you, the boys and our dear friends please know that we will be thinking of all of you. Have lots of fun and know that we are sending our very best wishes to you, Michael and Kevin! Many happy returns, Bijay, Pratibha, Monu, Vasu and Ashu

Happy Birthday Eric! We wish you all the best on this very special occasion! You have led quite a life and we are proud to know you! Send our best to Kevin and Michael and have a wonderful birthday! Love, Jen and Bill

Dear Eric, I have so enjoyed viewing your website and reading your amazing biography (WOW!) and viewing the many pictures of family, friends and colleagues. I was particularly reminded of when Bruce and I were with you as you were elected to The National Academy of Sciences in 1988. We were so very proud to be there as part of your family. I am also reminded of the many happy times we were together with you and Louise in Chicago, Colorado, Davis and Washington DC. I wish I could be there to help you celebrate your 90th Birthday but know I will be thinking of you so fondly and wishing you much happiness! Love to Michael and Kevin as well! Love always, JOAN

Eric Everytime we meet I learn more biochemistry. It continues to be a really fun association. Your Outlines of Biochemistry got me though my qualifying exam because it was not an encyclopedia. A biochem book one can read for fun is a real treasure. Ahippitiehappitieburthdaytoya - bruce

Hi Eric, Happy 90th Birthday from your family in Virginia. Wish Virginia was not so far from California or we could help you celebrate. What a celebration it will be! Know we will be thinking of you fondly and so proud of your accomplishments. Sending love to you, Kevin and Mike. With Birthday Blessings, Juli and Steven

Susan and I are very much looking forward to helping you celebrate your birthday. Best wishes to you, Michael and Kevin.