Dick Harcourt memorial unveiled at Strettle Reserve

Dick Harcourt. Photo: Pierre Harcourt

At the FoMC Weeding event, at Strettle Reserve in Preston, I was honoured to tell the volunteers a little about FoMC Life Member, Dick Harcourt, before his son, Pierre, unveiled a plaque in Dick's memory. Others of Dick's family and friends were also there. They very much appreciated the simple ceremony, the plaque and its position: on a log surrounded by the indigenous vegetation of Dick's much-loved Strettle Reserve. It was great to see some FoMC members, who I haven't seen for years, coming along, as they fondly remember Dick.

FoMC people remember Dick as a kind, gentle environmentalist, with a great sense of humour - always ready with a joke or two at every event he attended. Indeed, the hard copy Merri Growler newsletters carried "Dick's Witticisms" for a number of years. Dick was also a chemistry lecturer and sometimes participants at our events remembered Dick in that role. He was also one of the world's leading experts in valence bond theory (about atomic physics), publishing over 200 papers in international journals. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2017/18.

Dick Harcourt was really quite an extraordinary man. When he died in April 2020 (almost five years exactly before the unveiling of the plaque), Dick's family and friends generously donated $2,250 to FoMC.  I hope that this plaque will remain as a tribute to his memory.

        
Ray Radford speaking about Dick, his work and legacy.
Photo: Luisa Macmillan.