Quote of the Day: She Is Squeezing My Hand!

 

My Mother’s Home

“She is squeezing my hand!” R. Buckminster Fuller

Richard Buckminster Fuller would have been 125 years old today. Many know of his works, such as Dymaxion Map, Dymaxion House, or Dymaxion Car, or in promoting the geodesic dome.

But not as many may know of his death. He had been married for sixty-six years. His wife was in the hospital in a coma and dying. According to Wikipedia:

It was while visiting her there that he exclaimed, at a certain point: “She is squeezing my hand!” He then stood up, suffered a heart attack, and died an hour later, at age 87. His wife of 66 years died 36 hours later.

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  1. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    This is the Quote of the Day. If you have a quotation you would like to share, well, Tuesday would be a good day.

    • #1
  2. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster

    Aren’t buckyballs named after him?

    • #2
  3. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    Aren’t buckyballs named after him?

    Yes. There is the substance, Buckminsterfullerene, which is the molecule made of 60 carbon atoms. There is the truncated icosahedron. And then there are the magnets.

    • #3
  4. Vectorman Inactive
    Vectorman
    @Vectorman

    Shameless plug for a previous Bucky QOTD.

    Arahant: He then stood up, suffered a heart attack, and died an hour later, at age 87. His wife of 66 years died 36 hours later.

    The same thing happened to my maternal Aunt and Uncle.

    • #4
  5. KentForrester Coolidge
    KentForrester
    @KentForrester

    That’s the way to go.  Lead a full life, accompanied by a good wife, and then poof! you’re gone. 

    • #5
  6. Douglas Pratt Coolidge
    Douglas Pratt
    @DouglasPratt

    I never knew that. Thank you. I’ve read books about Fuller’s work and it seldom mentions his personal life, which is a shame. He seems to have been one of the nicest eccentrics you could ever meet.

    • #6
  7. Samuel Block Support
    Samuel Block
    @SamuelBlock

    There was a friend of my grandfather’s who he knew from Hartford. Apparently the man had a running joke with my grandmother: When she answered the phone, he’d tell her, “Ann! Have your suitcase ready and I’ll have the car running.”

    This friend died while my grandfather was on his deathbed. My uncle, who was still running the funeral home up there, decided not to tell his father, who was still conscious at the time. But it’s nice to know that there was somebody holding the door for Papa when he arrived.

    Great post, ‘hant! I didn’t know any of this.

    • #7
  8. The Scarecrow Thatcher
    The Scarecrow
    @TheScarecrow

    Goosebumps.

    • #8
  9. DrewInWisconsin Doesn't Care Member
    DrewInWisconsin Doesn't Care
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Where is that dome house? There was one that looked exactly like that near my home town. It was . . . weird inside.

    • #9
  10. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    DrewInWisconsin Doesn't C… (View Comment):

    Where is that dome house? There was one that looked exactly like that near my home town. It was . . . weird inside.

    Indiana.

    • #10
  11. Qoumidan Coolidge
    Qoumidan
    @Qoumidan

    I think it may speak poorly of me that the only things I know about that guy I learned from some sci-fi book.  I was surprised much later to find out he was a real person.  

    • #11
  12. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    Qoumidan (View Comment):

    I think it may speak poorly of me that the only things I know about that guy I learned from some sci-fi book. I was surprised much later to find out he was a real person.

    He does have sort of made-up sounding name, doesn’t he.

    • #12
  13. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Qoumidan (View Comment):

    I think it may speak poorly of me that the only things I know about that guy I learned from some sci-fi book. I was surprised much later to find out he was a real person.

    He does have sort of made-up sounding name, doesn’t he.

    And a made-up sounding life.

    • #13
  14. Douglas Pratt Coolidge
    Douglas Pratt
    @DouglasPratt

    Qoumidan (View Comment):

    I think it may speak poorly of me that the only things I know about that guy I learned from some sci-fi book. I was surprised much later to find out he was a real person.

    GrimNoir?  That was actually quite an accurate portrayal of the man.

    • #14
  15. DrewInWisconsin Doesn't Care Member
    DrewInWisconsin Doesn't Care
    @DrewInWisconsin

    On the TV show Andromeda space ships were equipped with Bucky Cables.

    A Bucky cable is an intelligent harpoon, which tracks its targets by the instructions of the computer on board of the firing ship. It is primarily used to recover any kind of salvage or to haul damaged ships. It is also used for many other applications, and is renowned for its high tensile strength and endurance. It is used in orbital elevators because of its strength and is also used in spaceships as internal wiring because of its conductivity. . . .

    The name refers to the use of Carbon Fullerine in their construction, leading to their great strength. The original compounds were developed by scientist Buckminster Fuller, and named Fullerines in his honour, but the large icosahedron shapes are affectionately known as “bucky balls”, and the cable’s name comes from this old moniker.

    • #15
  16. Qoumidan Coolidge
    Qoumidan
    @Qoumidan

    Douglas Pratt (View Comment):

    Qoumidan (View Comment):

    I think it may speak poorly of me that the only things I know about that guy I learned from some sci-fi book. I was surprised much later to find out he was a real person.

    GrimNoir? That was actually quite an accurate portrayal of the man.

    I don’t remember.  It had to do with space travel and those two things are the only things I remember about it.

    • #16
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