My memories of Dr. Bailey come from taking classes with him, seeing him in meetings and job talks, and his generous participation in mock interviews and research presentations. It is striking to me that the same characteristics I associate with Dr. Bailey are elucidated by Ronen Steinberg upthread. He had a sense of adventure, mischief, a _joie de vivre_.

Dr. Bailey volunteered to be on the “search committee” the year the department offered mock interviews for those of going on the job market. He asked one of the best questions I ever got, mock and real interviews. What was my THIRD research project going to be? He wanted to make sure that I would not be a two-trick pony and that I would have ongoing intellectual contributions to make. He asked it much better (and with significantly more panache) than I have recounted here. My second best memory comes from a research presentation given to the department. I was nervously waiting at the head of the room while professors and students entered the room and found seats. I had slides (cusp of Powerpoint days, long before Prezi) with a projector set up on a precarious-looking tripod. Dr. Bailey tried to go under the tripod as I watched the tower begin to tilt. Disaster was averted as several people reached out and steadied the tripod and Dr. Bailey found his seat. Given that my presentation was on a human-made disaster (Love Canal), I’ve never been been sure if he wasn’t setting the scene for my talk with a small-scale disaster to warm up the audience. Whatever the reason, I was grateful for his support. I and many others benefited from his generous heart, his intellect, and his love of history and for MSU.