My name is Gil Walker and I am the Program Director at Astrocamp. I've come here on behalf of Guided Discoveries and all the staff at Astrocamp and at Catalina. I want you to pretend - imagine - that there are 100 people standing up here who have been Lauren's second family. And I also want to apologize that I will not be able to stay because I am on my way to New London, NH, for another member of our family.

I would like to begin by relying on the words of some of Lauren's friends and staff members at Astrocamp. It was a whole other life for her and for everyone who's there. She went from the rocks to the stars, and this will give you a glimpse into her life at camp.

These words are written in a booklet that each instructor has, called "You're a Star." And both staff members and parents and chaperones who bring their students to camp have an opportunity to write in these booklets.

Dear Lauren,
You've been a great mentor this last month. I wish I told you so while you here. I will miss hearing you and Jody compare notes on your colleges and rivalries at lunch. I heard you call the Eagle Nebula a squirrel holding a telephone so many times that it will never look like anything else to me. I keep turning it over in my mind how unfair all this is for all of us. You had so many smiles left to smile. The rest of us are left asking why. You'll be missed here.

Lauren,
Damn it, I wanted you to teach me how to knit. I was going to make dinner for you this week as your present for letting me ditch telescope viewing. So I guess we still owe each other. Some day I'll come visit you, two perfect souls in a heaven of knit socks and vegetarian cuisine.

Lauren,
What a star you are. You have been such a pleasure to be around. I will hope to see you shine bright in the sky at night. You are so missed by your friends here. They think the world of you.

Lauren,
Wow, this season was so good for you. I saw you really blossom and laugh and smile, more so than ever before. I'm so glad I know you. I tried to teach solar today, but it wasn't the same without you and your big white floppy hat. Don't forget to wear it on your future travels. Keeps the sun off your face. You are such a gift to us. I hope you can teach all those you meet as much as you taught me. Thanks, Lauren.

Lauren,
Monday morning you guided me up to telescopes and told me to find Venus in the daytime sky. As I looked through our southwest Meade, I saw your spirit and your smile and Venus's crescent smile. All week long, I have tried my hardest to share all the knowledge and enthusiasm I know you would have given this week and the next and the next. You have given so much to all around you. I am very sad that you had to leave us, but I promise to continue to see you, and see with you through our eyes and through our souls the wonders around us. This week alone you have walked by my side up to the solar class, looked with me at the blazing shimmering sun. You will always be with us in our hearts and souls. Thank you so much for your love, your patience, your support, your happiness, your smile, sincerity, your perfection. We'll keep meeting each other in the stars.

Lauren was a very special member of our teaching staff and our family at the Desert Sun Science Center. She became very interested in astronomy and our telescope-viewing program. And we have a very beautiful sky at Idyllwild, and she was also a star.

Besides teaching thousands of students - not all at once - about our earth and sky, Lauren became our Telescope Queen.

Our program has advanced so far that we needed her to devote part of her teaching time to fully understand the operation of the telescopes. She was gifted. She could take images of deep space. She could make the scopes slew to all parts of the universe. And she had the added quality of being excited and enthusiastic about the wonder of the stars.

It is only fitting - and I invite all of you on November 7 - we will be dedicating one of our telescope sites the Lauren Interess Observatory.

She will always be remembered for her love, for her compassion, for her enthusiasm, for her teaching, for her perfection, and for her friendship.

And every night, we will keep meeting Lauren in the stars.

The Eagle Nebula Can you find the squirrel holding a telephone? Back to Gil Walker