WHEN I LEARNED I was to receive the Scott Medal from Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, the arboretum director explained how the March 10 awards ceremony would work. I’d give a talk, Claire Sawyers said, as part of the event–of maybe an hour in length.
“What topic would be of interest to your audience?” I asked, thinking she meant a garden lecture. “No, talk about yourself,” she said.
“Talk about myself for an hour?” I thought, but biting my tongue and staying silent. Uh-oh.
But I did, sort of, and now it’s available (above, or at this link on YouTube) for those of you who did not attend in person or on Zoom that day to watch. I managed to weave in various examples of my slightly deranged sense of humor, and multiple photos of frogs, too, of course.
A special treat for me: My friend Drew Schuyler of Untermyer Gardens Conservancy in Yonkers, N.Y., introduced me, and I think you’ll enjoy his remarks, too.
It probably goes without saying that I was very grateful to be added to the list of people awarded the prize since 1930, who “have made an outstanding national contribution to the science and the art of gardening,” according to the arboretum website. Many thanks to all involved.