For five years Mary Lou Gayle generously volunteered to accept the responsibility of being the editor, publisher, and distributor of The Virginia Acquirer. As anyone who has been graced with this honor (or even considered accepting such) realizes, the bi-monthly assembling, printing, and distribution of a newsletter requires not only a significant sacrifice of time, but also some skills in creativity and leadership; the latter of which involves attracting, encouraging, and reminding others to follow through on their commitment to provide information on a timely basis. I have been one of those who were faithfully reminded by Mary Lou, far in advance of a procrastinator’s deadline, to submit my article. And she never failed to excessively express her appreciation, which made me even more grateful for her dedication to fulfill her expectations of how best to serve our membership. I shall miss her friendly reminders as well as the smiling face I know was behind those email reminders. And, in remembrance of her, I will do my best to remind myself of my commitment to submit an article, which I plan to do in the next issue of what I often referred to as Mary Lou’s magazine.

In Honor of Mary Lou Gayle (1954-2019)