3 The New York Years (1931–1953)

306 9 Ernst Mayr—the Man
2005. Memorial services celebrating the life and contributions of Professor Mayr
were held at the Carleton-Willard Village on 26 February and in the Memorial
Church of Harvard University on 29 April 2005. Speakers at the latter service were
the following: Thomas M. Ferrick, Humanist Chaplain of the United Ministry at
Harvard and Radcliffe, said he met Ernst Mayr about 15 years ago, when Ernst
wanted to discuss in detail what his memorial service at Harvard would be and
who would speak. Most or all of the five speakers were chosen on that occasion by
E. Mayr himself. In his presentation Ferrick read a “text,” a passage from Ernst’s
book What Evolution Is (2001), which is a very strong statement of the “fact of
evolution” (the final paragraph of chapter 11 on page 264). Ferrick was followed
by James Hanken, director of the MCZ, who mentioned that the Accademia dei
Lincei (Rome, Italy) had sent a gold medal honoring Mayr’s 100th birthday. He had
informed him about it in December but because of Mayr’s final illness and the snow
storms in January a ceremony could not be arranged before he died. Hanken had
the medal with him, showed it to the audience and presented it to the family after the
service. The other speakers were Frank Sulloway, Edward O. Wilson, Walter Bock,
and Jared Diamond who related Ernst Mayr’s influence on their personal careers.
“On 3 July 2005, a pleasant sunny summer day with birds singing and a woodpecker
drumming in the background, [Walter Bock] joined Ernst’s two daughters
and their spouses, his five grandchildren and their spouses, and his ten greatgrandchildren
to scatter his ashes along a path overlooking the lake at The Farm.
The ashes of his wife Gretel had been scattered there in 1990. This is the place that
Ernst and Gretel loved the best in their beloved Farm” (Bock 2005).
The Farm near Wilton, New Hampshire
As soon as they had arrived at Cambridge in 1953 the Mayrs searched for a country
place in a hilly area in about 60 miles distance. They found a place for sale near
Wilton, New Hampshire region, an abandoned farm on a dirt road with about
160 acres of land bordering Burton Pond and they purchased it, even though the
house was in very poor condition. It took a lot of time and work by the family and
friends to make it acceptable (Fig. 9.5). However, the previous owner had left them
something invaluable, a marvelous old kitchen stove and an equally beautiful old
cast-iron Franklin stove both of which, to this day, render excellent service.
ThemainattractionofthisareafortheMayrfamilywasitssolitudeandwildness.
Nearly all of “The Farm,” as everybody continued to call it, was covered with
unbroken broadleaf woods (oak, beech, four species of birch, maple, ash) and
some conifers mixed in. The nearest neighbors were more than half a mile away in
onedirectionandmorethantwomilesintheotherdirection,whentheypurchased
The Farm. They had Burton Pond virtually to themselves with its beavers, otters,
and ducks. About 40 acres of pastures and haying meadows were kept mowed
by a neighbor who could use the grass for his animals. The postal address is 310
Collins Road, Lyndeborough.
Rabbits and bobcats, common at first, later disappeared completely. Porcupines
had to be decimated to save some pear trees and woodchucks frequently got