Remembering Wes
by Harangi Szabolcs
Memories about Wes come across my mind each day. As a volcano petrologist, I had already read Wes’s work on the formation of rhyolitic magmas and the MASH model back in the ’90s, and I considered them foundational. As a young research assistant at the University, I look for modern theories to incorporate them in my classes and these models were among them. I still remember writing to Judy in 2012, at the 100th anniversary of the Katmai–Novarupta eruption, when I was putting together a popular science article about the event. I really appreciated Judy’s kind help at the time. Not long after, I received a package from Wes, who had sent their monograph about the Katmai–Novarupta eruption written by him and Judy, along with a few other articles. These have remained valuable scientific documents in my collection ever since.
One of the photos in the monograph had particularly impressed me. It showed a several-meter-thick pumice-rich volcanic deposit in a vertical outcrop. When we were working at the Ciomadul volcano, Romania, we discovered a previously unknown thick sequence of pumiceous volcanic layers in a gully. The moment I saw it, that image came to my mind immediately, and I informally named the outcrop the “Hildreth section.” We’ve been calling it that among ourselves ever since!
In 2017, we were so excited to hear that the IAVCEI conference would be in Portland, with fantastic field trips as part of the program. Although all of them were very appealing, there was no question that we would choose the Long Valley trip - not just to see the Bishop Tuff, but also to finally meet Wes and Judy in person. That field trip became one of the greatest experiences of our lives. On the last evening, we were sitting in a restaurant, and as fate would have it, maybe not by chance, I ended up at the same table as Wes. We had a long conversation over a bottle of wine. He asked me about Hungarian history, about 1956, and my parents and what life was like for us before 1989. That was a great conversation, I will not forget it! He also talked about his life and I knew how deeply he was interested in politics, and I was both impressed and surprised by how much he knew about Hungary, not just its recent history, but also the current political situation. It turned out that we had a lot of common things in our views. That conversation sparked an incredible and close connection between us. We began exchanging e-mails regularly, discussing daily political events as well as personal matters.
Another unforgettable experience for us was being able to start a joint research project on the Mammoth Mountain lava dome complex. Unfortunately, COVID delayed our fieldwork by several years, but working together with Wes and Judy again was absolutely worth the wait. Although our luggage was lost, but even that couldn’t hold us back, and we’re incredibly grateful for the warm hospitality we received. We still remember the great conversations over a glass of gin at the end of each day, and I can say that since then, Réka and I have become gin enthusiasts. We learned so much personally and scientifically, and our one-day trip to the Yosemite area was also a huge highlight. It was an amazing learning experience, and we returned home full of motivation to begin processing the rock samples.
I was really looking forward to visiting Wes again. It was not easy to find the financial background and also the time to do that. My duty as a director of institute ended last summer but since then we have been very busy, both of us have got important recognitions, and these required time and energy. We even talked about how great it would be to join one of the basalt field works. I had just returned to working on basalts myself, which I did at the beginning of my career and I even submitted a major grant proposal for it, so I was very curious about how Wes and Judy map basalt volcanic areas. I was hopeful that maybe in the second half of 2025, we could manage to organize such a trip.
So many memories flood my mind - everything Wes gave me, gave us, I am committed to carrying on his legacy.