Legend has it he once led a deer into his house by offering food, then could not get it out. He referenced his co-author (nickname: Porkbutt) in the index of the book they edited together. His office walls are covered with (unused) barf bags from airplanes from his travels around the world. He skipped out of the San Fransisco annual Geography meetings early in 2007 to hit the sun and play beach volleyball with his grad school buddies. His wardrobe consists of Hawaiian shirts of just about every color and pattern imaginable.
The field of Geography suddenly lost one of its most forceful proponents this week. I came to the University of Colorado in 2006 ready to do my PhD work in Geography. I was, however, slightly unsure what the field of Geography actually was. But following a semester of 3 hours a week of Professor Gary Gaile's History and Theory of Geography class, I came to appreciate Geography as a discipline. The class was filled with lively debate about what constituted Geography. Us students were convinced anything could be considered 'Geography.' Gary had limits and boundaries to place on works of 'Geography.' Gary was, as he defined himself, a geographer with a capital G, meaning he stood up for and defended the field of geography. By nature, geography is an interdisciplinary discipline. No one knew-or appreciated-that better than Gary Gaile.
I can't imagine half the stories that will be told to celebrate Gary's life. After a semester of class with him, we heard more crazy stories about his academic adventures travelling, publishing, attending conferences, and teaching than we ever thought possible. He limited the stories to the academic world; I am sure we only heard a fraction of his life stories. May his life be celebrated to its true potential.
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