When we lost Randy Martin, we lost the foremost advocate of new ways of thinking about art, public policy, dance, finance—OK—anything! Prolific and always demanding, Randy's books flowed from his singular mind to a wide-ranging and engaged audience. Learning from Randy's books can be hard earned knowledge, but it's a knowledge that transforms your soul for good. Engaging Randy in conversation was a wake-up call—a call to action, in the most pleasant yet demanding way imaginable. He just knew how to bring the best out of everyone!

Randy was a dear friend of mine. Our regular conversations form the foundation for the way I think about every moment of my life, from the personal to the professional to the political, with art sprinkled in everywhere.

There are few people who have graced this earth with the fierce courage and intelligence Randy had. He spoke freely from that lively mind and inspired generations of students, colleagues, and friends to follow suit in the necessary risks of thinking and being different in the world. If you think of the way Randy worked, he truly lived his love of radical forms of currency every step of the way—which is to say, by creating value as we live in yet unknown manners, and to not allow ourselves to be dictated to by the past. You never truly know what will happen when you commit to the levels of experimental thinking and living Randy demanded. How exciting! He risked every day with everyone. Hanging on by a thread to Randy's lovely tapestry of seemingly extra-terrestrial idea exploration, perhaps happily enduring one of his record-breaking puns, was a sport in which I was so honored to be a player. Randy brought to the 80's, 90's and 2000's what astronauts brought to the 60's and 70's—a fierce, almost mythical courage and trust in the conceptual galaxies beyond.

I was not alone in my enchantment with Randy's ideas. Even in his last days, his students, myself included, stood by his hospital bed waiting for one last idea. This was as grand to observe as it was bittersweet and ever so sad. It is hard for me to go about my life knowing Randy is not in his body, enlivening yet another conversation, tennis match, bike ride, union stance, or beach walk.

What gives me solace is that I know that Randy is truly in the bodies of all the folks he touched, lovingly challenging us to go a little further, to risk, to tell the truth as we know it, as we imagine it, and as we cannot yet imagine it.

And I must close with a mention of the "sweet loves" of Randy's life: his amazing wife Ginger and his two incredible children, Oliver and Sophia, who at Randy's memorial inspired us all with their wise and moving remarks. I mention the phrase "sweet love" because I adopted it in our home as soon as our son was born, after hearing Randy so endearingly use it in his.

Thank you, Randy, for everything!