Production Blog

Weed Scientist Leaves Legacy

Marshal Dean McGlamery was known to those of us who came to love and depend on the weed scientist for information as "Mac" or "Dr. Mac." (Courtesy photo)

DECATUR, Ill. (DTN) -- It's been 35 years since I first interviewed Marshal McGlamery. I was fresh out of college and my new boss had assigned me to write the first article of my career titled: "How to walk soybeans." My editor later confided that he never expected me to write the story -- it was a joke to put the new kid in her place.

Since no one explained that to me, I dialed up the weed scientist and set an appointment. McGlamery never flinched when I sat down in his office and explained the mission.

"Don't you know about the Santa Claus treatment?" he asked, and paused all serious-like as I sat on the edge of my seat, pen at the ready.

"Well, you just hoe, hoe, hoe." The laugher that erupted afterwards seemed to start at his toes and bubble up. After the burst of hilarity, we got down to work and by the end of the interview I had a dandy little story -- much to the chagrin of my then editor. These days, every time I see a photo of hoe crews chopping resistant weeds, I think of McGlamery and his warnings that weeds will always find a way to win.

Marshal Dean McGlamery died Jan. 25. He was known to those of us who came to love and depend on the weed scientist for information as "Mac" or "Dr. Mac." Later in my career, I was lucky enough to profile Mac in an article titled "The Weed Marshal." During that interview, Mac pulled one of his favorite moves -- he stood on his head in the middle of the University of Illinois greenhouse -- all the while spouting a long passage from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Mac gave everyone he touched the permission to search for inner meaning in the most unlikely places.

Those who didn't know Mac might have occasionally wondered if he was "mad as a hatter," as he was notorious for jokes and antics during presentations. However, the standing-room-only crowds he attracted were as much a reflection of respect for his knowledge as his ability to entertain.

He had a penchant for quotes and sayings that lead to understanding. Growers who find themselves reluctant walk into the field to rogue small patches of waterhemp might keep this admonition in mind: "One year of seed yields seven years of weeds."

P[L1] D[0x0] M[300x250] OOP[F] ADUNIT[] T[]

"Many people remember Mac as a humorist, but he was one of the most intelligent men I've ever known," said Aaron Hager, University of Illinois weed scientist. "Not long after I started at Illinois, I asked him something related to chemistry and herbicide degradation -- thinking I could demonstrate to the elder statesman that the new kid knew a thing or two. It took all of 15 seconds for Mac to completely lose me with the complexity of the answer.

"I never again made the mistake of asking Mac another chemistry question, or any other question, without first checking my ego at the door of his office," Hager told DTN.

McGlamery was born in Morehead, Okla. and graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1958 and earned his Ph.D. in agronomy at the University of Illinois in 1965. He was on the University of Illinois faculty until he retired in 2000.

He spent two summers in India helping to establish soybeans as an edible protein and did sabbaticals at the University of Minnesota, North Carolina State University and the University of Arkansas.

Hager said McGlamery was known for his incredible kindness and generosity. "He not only shared his knowledge, but he shared himself," Hager recalled. "It's impossible to know how many graduate students he helped through the years." Hager recalled that McGlamery often opened his own home to graduate students that weren't able to return to their families for the holidays and sometimes helped them with bills when research assistantships didn't stretch far enough.

McGlamery's obituary barely mentions all of his many agricultural service awards, but it points out that he served as "Santa Claus" for many years for the Agronomy Department. He taught Sunday school at the Champaign County Nursing Home for more than 30 years.

In 2000, The Progressive Farmer's Editor in Chief Gregg Hillyer asked McGlamery what he hoped his legacy would be. Mac was quoted as saying: "I hope people will say I was a person who literally took the term 'service' to heart. I tell people that I'm a public servant. I know your taxes pay my salary. I hope you've got your money's worth."

One of the best things about being a journalist is the people we meet along the way. Most of us can only aspire to Mac's relentless enthusiasm. From the bright orange shirt and rainbow-striped suspenders to the silver star he almost always wore, nothing about Mac was ordinary. I will remember him standing at the door of his office as I departed, offering a handshake and then, a bear hug, before sending me back out into the world with a traditional Irish blessing:

May the road rise to meet you,

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

The rains fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

Pam Smith can be reached at pamela.smith@telventdtn.com

P[] D[728x170] M[320x75] OOP[F] ADUNIT[] T[]
P[L2] D[728x90] M[320x50] OOP[F] ADUNIT[] T[]

Comments

To comment, please Log In or Join our Community .