To Professor Dr Minter Jackson Westfall, Jr on his 70th birthday

Dear Minter, There are small events in human life which appear entirely normal at the moment of their occurrence, but whose significance and far-reaching effects become apparent only with the lapse of time. December 23, 1971 is the day that marks one of the most important milestones in the history of our Society. It is the date you have signed your membership registration form, enclosed the 5.60 dollar draft for the 1971 membership fees, and mailed the lot to Utrecht. Simultaneously with your registration, several other registration forms were received by the Treasurer on December 28, and you have been assigned the membership number 71. As far as I could ascertain, out of almost 800 registration forms hitherto received, yours is the only one written on a typewriter with a red ribbon. And like a red ribbon, your activities and work are interwoven with the Society from the very first year of its existence The society became unseparable from you, and you are unseparable from the SIO, and much of what the Society has achieved in the first 15 years of its existence is due to your activities, suggestions and encouragement.