Dick Post
For nearly seven decades Dick, a scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory created invention after invention.
When he passed away in April after a brief illness, he had more inventions than anyone else on the 3,000 person Livermore technical staff.
And Dick was working on one of his biggest breakthroughs, developing ways to greatly improve the storage of solar and wind energy, a crucial step in phasing out petroleum
energy.
What Dick did even in his later years was incredible and that is what compels us to tell his story. How could one person function as if he was almost ageless?
(story continues from "Read More")
Dick functioned as if he was almost ageless because each day he was doing what he loved, working in his office and lab, excited with what that day's discoveries might be.
With that wonderful attitude, the energy Dick exuded was almost magical.
In his personal life, Dick had a 66 year marriage to Marylee, until her passing two years ago, and they were devoted to each other and to their three children.
Even in his 90's, Dick enjoyed flying remote controlled helicopters with their son Stephen, a successful inventor who runs a research lab in Livermore, California.
In addition, Dick was learning to play the piano, despite the challenge of arthritic hands.
And at breakfast each morning he ate fresh pineapple, persuaded years ago by a Livermore Labs doctor that fresh fruit causes our bodies to rid themselves of cholesterol.
As for his incredible work and its impact on mankind:
"His loss is a huge one for us, and we all believe it is also a huge loss to the scientific community and field of alternate energy, " Dick's daughter, actress Markie Post told
the Los Angeles Times. "We thought he would be here a lot longer; we were spoiled by his vigor."
Other scientists are pursuing Dick's work, but few people anywhere will replicate his 96 years of intense energy, stoked by fascination with his work, with his family and
with his life.
