J Leonard Dixon

I visited the University of Minnesota to meet Carrie Keys and Dr. Henry Blackburn. We met at the Aster café for brunch on Sunday, August 23rd. Carrie Keys is one of the three children of Ancel and Margaret Keys. She lives in the Minneapolis area and is retired after a career as a psychotherapist. She arrived at the Aster with her husband, Julian. She is an active reader and, in fact, has been a member of a book club for over 40 years. She related some remembrances of her early childhood. She also indicated that she is very excited about the book that historian Sarah Tracy is writing about her father and family. Carrie was very positive about my book, Genius and Partnership. She thought I portrayed an accurate picture of the interaction between her father and mother. She handed me a list of corrections and I was relieved that the list only contained two items, and one was a misspelling of the name of one of Ancel’s collaborators. When I started writing Genius and Partnership, I had no idea that I would ever meet one of Ancel and Margaret Keys’s children. I can tell you that it was a honor to meet Carrie Keys and her husband.

It was fun to meet up with Dr. Henry Blackburn and his wife, Stacy Richardson. Henry Blackburn is continuing to write his book on The History of Epidemiology. At the brunch at the Aster cafe, Henry sat in with the Patty and the Buttons, one of the premier jazz groups in Minneapolis. We were especially lucky because Henry sat in for two sets.   Stacy is a science writer and journalist.

Also at our brunch were Joanne Slavin, a Professor of Nutrition at the University of Minnesota, and her hubby, Mark Engstrom, an expert in dairy nutrition. A picture of the group is below.

The Aster Cafe:  http://www.astercafe.com

The Group’s Website: http://www.pattyandthebuttons.com

Brunch at the Aster Cafe, August 23, 2015. From the left: Stacy Richardson, Joanne Slavin, Mark Engstrom, Joe Dixon, Henry Blackburn, Carrie D’Andrea (Keys), Julian D’Andrea

Henry Blackburn sitting in with Patty and the Buttons, Aster Cafe, August 23, 2015

Henry Blackburn playing with Patty and the Buttons, Aster Cafe, August 23, 2015