Love and courage

Yesterday I wrote a post about learning, and linked to my friend Dan Steinberg's new blog about creating a calculus book. He was supposed to have arrived here in Boulder today, to spend the weekend working on it with us. He had just turned in the first chapter, and it was the most amazing thing. He cares so deeply about learning, and he has always been inspired by the idea of creating the book that his children would one day grow into. Dan isn't interested just in teaching the topic, he wants to inspire. He cares about giving his learners a taste of "the soul of math."

Shortly after I made that post, he sent us a message that his young daughter Elena had died quite suddenly and unexpectedly. He is the definition of family man and proud father--I've never known ANYONE who was so devoted to his children (and his wife, who he always refers to as "Kimmie the Wonder Wife".) I edited the post to remove the link because--knowing Dan--I was worried that he'd want to be "the good host." If it were me, I'm pretty sure I would just disappear and give not a moment's thought to anyone or anything else.

But that's not Dan. He is dedicating the book to his children; it's very important to him. So here's the link to his Extreme Teaching blog again. He'll need our help when he returns to work on it.

But Dan has created a new journal, Dear Elena, to help express his thoughts and feelings about this tragedy. Whether you know Dan or not, you will find courage in his messages, and as Brian Bailey said in the comments, "Such an emotional reminder to treasure every second with our children."

I'm sure Dan and his family will appreciate your thoughts, especially knowing that he inspired one more person to read just one more bedtime story...