"To call myself beloved, to feel myself beloved on the earth"--A Tribute to our Founding Editor Dick Bakemeier

J Canc Educ (2010) 25:138139 DOI 10.1007/s13187-010-0117-7

To call myself beloved, to feel myself belovedon the earthA Tribute to our Founding Editor Dick Bakemeier

Joseph F. ODonnell

Published online: 22 April 2010 # Springer 2010

LATE FRAGMENTAnd did you get whatyou wanted from this life, even so?

I did.

And what did you want?

To call myself beloved, to feel myself beloved on the earth.

I have always loved this poem by Raymond Carver; and when I read it and contemplate it, I think of Dick Bakemeier (Fig. 1). He is certainly beloved on this earth and has done so much for so many.

I always think of Margaret Edwards as the mother of cancer education. She had such great impact running the cancer education program at the National Cancer Institute, which spawned the interest of so many. If she is the mother, she had accomplices by her side, and there is none that I can think of that had as much impact as Dick Bakemeier and so I am declaring him...