Conversation with Martin (Gardner)

I spoke with Martin (Gardner) a couple of weeks ago. First, I wanted to wish Martin a happy birthday! He turned a young 93 on Oct 21st. He does not like birthdays but I was so pleased when he told me that since he's made it to 93, he's decided to go for 100! This is very special news indeed!
When Martin and I talk, he always shares with me new book news, both his personally or others he's read. First, Sterling is publishing a new kid's book of Martin's called Optical Illusion Kit. As many of you know, Martin loves magic and this sort of thing. This book willl have an envelope of punch outs at the back. He started writing this a few years ago and there were special artists hired to design the punch outs. He told me he will send me one of his advance copies when he receives them from Sterling. I'm looking forward to seeing it and sharing it with my kids!
Also, he told me about a great book that amazon just put on a reduced price list. It turns out I already have this book, and I agreed with Martin, it is fantastic. I used to use it as a reference in my classroom all the time. I love this book. I paid $60 for it at Chapters and really love it. It has recreational math in it as well as definitions, history, etc... I used it a lot to look up stuff when my students' asked wonderfully quirky questions about things in math they heard about.
Anyway, amazon reduced it to $9.99! The book is called The Universal Book of Mathematics (from Abracadabra to Zeno's Paradoxes) by David Darling published by John Wiley & Sons. A GREAT buy!
Well, Martin is doing well and it is still a thrill to talk with him! I call him every 4-6 weeks and he is gracious every time. In fact, he enjoys our conversations and always seems so appreciative of my calls.
I've discovered that the real great minds that I've met thus far (I've been blessed now to have met many in the mathematics community) the ones so far out of my league and are so scary smart, so above my capabilities, these great ones are actually the most gracious. The really great ones I've met, talk to me, have no pretense or snobbery, they are just so gracious and genuine. Martin is one of these. Happy Birthday my friend! Thank you for enriching my life and I hope to share many more years and memories with you!