Aquaporin Adventure
When senior writer Maria Blackburn first interviewed Nobel
winner Peter Agre for "Good
Chemistry," she was worried that he'd be burned out
from all the media attention. But Agre, who won the prize
for discovering water channels, or aquaporins, was more
than up for it. "He was a great interview," she says, "and
a really interesting guy — funny, effusive,
irreverant, smart." And she experienced first-hand what
many of her sources would eventually tell her — that
Agre is a down-to-earth and pleasant man. Says Blackburn:
"He wants you to call him Peter, not Dr. Agre. He doesn't
mind dumb questions. He's enthusiastic and energetic and
idealistic and a lot of fun to talk to. I'm looking for
excuses to interview him again." — CP
Stickler for Details
Photographer Michael Ciesielski has been in violin shops
before, but prior to photographing Raymond Hardy for
"Crafting Sound," he had never seen a violin maker at work.
After spending time with Hardy in his Catonsville,
Maryland, workshop, Ciesielski was impressed by the time
and effort it takes to carve and shape a violin and the
small tools used. "Everything is very painstaking —
tiny, tiny things happen, each one at a time," he says.
Ciesielski photographed neurologist and clarinetist Dan
Drachman for
February's issue. His work is regularly featured in the
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's Overture program.
— MB