Against the Grain
Volume 19 | Issue 4 Article 13
September 2007 Remembering Peter Banks Greg Tananbaum [email protected]
Follow this and additional works at: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/atg Part of the Library and Information Science Commons
Recommended Citation Tananbaum, Greg (2007) "Remembering Peter Banks," Against the Grain: Vol. 19: Iss. 4, Article 13. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7771/2380-176X.5103
This document has been made available through Purdue e-Pubs, a service of the Purdue University Libraries. Please contact [email protected] for additional information. Remembering Peter Banks Column Editor: Greg Tananbaum (Consulting Services at the Intersection of Technology, Content, and Academia)
I a m and my approach. I remember talking to him values, and his spark. I am proud to have had b o t h s a d about a big plan I had to align all the world’s Peter Banks as a friend, and sorry to have lost and proud scholarly publishers within a grand common him so soon. to be writ- postprints service. He told me that it was a April 4: For the first time in my life, ing this es- great idea, that he would be first in line with probably, I am trendy. Tony Snow, Elizabeth say in tribute the ADA to support it, but that the challenges Edwards, Jonathan Alter, and me... all living to my friend it faced were likely insurmountable. Then he with cancer. Though this is a trend I would and colleague Peter Banks, who died in July told me why this was so, and how we might have been happy to have passed by, you take after a struggle with colon cancer. I first came work together to see if we could prove him what comes. Next stop: American Idol? With across Peter when he was running the Ameri- wrong. We did do the work, and it turned out Sanjaya among the finalists, I can say that I can Diabetes Association’s publications and he was right. But through the process I learned have as much talent as some of the contestants posting regularly to LIBLICENSE as part a great deal about hypothesis testing, coalition (though, admittedly, not nearly as many hair of its ongoing open access debate. I was im- building, and distilling concepts down to their style choices — more like one, really, the clas- mediately struck by his intelligence, passion, core benefits. Peter’s patience and guidance sic no. 2 next-stop-baldness cut). grasp of nuance, and wit. In the years of our served as the catalyst for that lesson. April 7: I can’t exactly wrap my arms friendship, I came to see that these four quali- It was some time before Peter and I got around “an affliction born of love,” which ties were at the heart of his essence. together face-to-face, and when we did it was seems like God giving us so powerful a hug that In reading Peter’s posts, it was immediately in the Francis Marion Hotel’s lobby. What he breaks our ribs and ruptures our spleens. clear what a strong advocate he was for his better place to meet scholarly publishing’s Or gives us cancer. And yet there is a kind of readers. He cared fiercely that those in need of Dorothy Parker than in our equivalent of the gift from cancer. In the face of mortality, I have research, data, and opinions related to diabetes Algonquin Round Table? We were scheduled come to see that we live in a world of incredible be able to get their hands on it without delay or to talk for fifteen minutes but sat for ninety beauty and love, but we can’t see it until it is struggle. For example, under Peter’s leader- instead. Much of the time was filled with threatened and in danger of slipping away. I ship the ADA invested significant resources breezy back and forth many miles away from only wish God had given me a wake-up call into “translating” academic findings into lan- the scholarly publishing realm. Peter was a other than cancer. A really good cancer scare guage understandable to the average diabetes runner, as am I. While he was a long-time might have done the job! sufferer. To Peter, the Open Access movement east coaster, he retained a special affinity for April 20: A good day. Until a few months sometimes oversimplified the subtle consider- the Bay Area, my home. He also was a bit of ago, I would have had a lofty threshold for ations that went into association publishing. a political junkie, another interest we shared. “good:” landing a fat new piece of business, He was unafraid and unashamed to call out It is a great blessing in life when you can find dining at the Inn at Little Washington.... Today, the very real costs of government-mandated professional colleagues who so easily become though “good” is defined by small things: blue dissemination, as well as what he saw as the personal friends. Peter fit the bill. sky, a lunch with the company of good friends, limited returns such advocacy would reap. His Over the ensuing years our paths continued a strong appetite (strong enough to finish both manner in doing so was equal parts common to cross. In 2006, when Peter’s tenure at the the entree and peanut butter mousse pie), sit- sense, unassailable logic, and humor. It was American Diabetes Association was draw- ting with Lucy and talking, having two wonder- once suggested on one listserv that society pub- ing to a close, I tried unsuccessfully to lure ful children, the companionship of a faithful lishers often receive subscriptions from schol- him to The Berkeley Electronic Press, my if flea-ridden and largely deaf old hound. In ars interested in their journal’s content but not employer at the time. His commitment to his other words, “good” is all the things I should necessarily supportive of the society’s overall family — his wife’s psychotherapy practice, have been noticing for the past 30 years but mission, and that this was akin to taxation with- his children’s final high school years — simply often didn’t. out representation. Peter’s response provides took precedence over a job he was otherwise May 14: I had a momentary panic today. a good snapshot of his style. “A subscription excited to pursue. Shortly thereafter, we both is not a tax; it a choice to purchase informa- On the plus side, it was about work, not can- jumped the fence and became independent con- cer. On the minus side, it was about work, tion,” he wrote. “You might as well make the sultants. We enjoyed exchanging war stories argument that buying any Kraft product is a not cancer. I had to remind myself: Stop. when we got together at last year’s Charleston Breathe. You will complete your work well tax that forces you to support Philip Morris Conference. I had invited Peter to speak on and, by extension, cigarette smoking. You have without compromising your health. Save the a panel about upcoming developments in the fight or flight for what matters — or, better still, a choice: don’t buy anything that’s part of the space. His presentation, entitled “Everything Phillip Morris empire, and don’t buy Diabetes don’t get into fight or flight at all. It’s not the I Know about Scholarly Publishing’s Future saber-tooth tiger trying to outrun you; it’s just if you feel that the ADA empire is guilty of I Learned from iTunes,” showcased his something (like suppressing what you might a momentary work pile-up. I spent 20 years typical mix of intelligence, passion, grasp of in an office with the maximum possible sick see as the truth of low-carb dieting). Start your nuance, and wit. In it, he argued that iTunes own journal of Low-Carbohydrate Science if leave piled up for years, never taking a sick provides a great model for the successful online day unless I couldn’t drag myself in (maybe you wish and if OA is as easy as you believe; distribution of information. He managed to no one is forcing you to buy Diabetes.” 10 days in 20 years). In the end, that work- inject wry and spot-on references to the Free above-all spirit wound up benefiting me not in To focus on a single issue or position does Culture Manifesto, Coldplay, Ralph Nader, the least — and stealing time from family while not do Peter Banks justice, however. Long the National Hockey League, and Tower delaying my recovery from bouts of the flu and before we met, Peter was gracious enough to Records in order to further his premise. I left other illnesses (which I probably spread to my strike up an ongoing email correspondence with the session having jotted down several pages colleagues.) Perspective is one of the “gifts” me, a relative novice in the space some 15 years of notes and bursting with ideas. Peter had of cancer. (My definition of “gift” has acquired his junior. We talked about all sorts of matters that effect on people. a more complex side.) I love my work and related to scholarly publishing. I had some When Peter was diagnosed with cancer working with my clients. But allowing work to grand ideas for how to facilitate broader, faster this spring, he began keeping an online Caring become corrosive — especially now — benefits dissemination. Like any good mentor, Peter Bridge journal. More than anything I could neither them nor me. always validated my enthusiasm but offered write, these entries speak to his character, his unflinching constructive criticism of my ideas continued on page 10 Against the Grain / September 2007