Alan H. Durfee

I first met Alan when I was a graduate student at Princeton and he was a graduate student at Cornell, visiting at Princeton. We both enjoyed thinking about knots, Brieskorn manifolds, singularities of complex hyper surfaces, and our conversations lead to our joint work on these subjects. Alan's energy and enthusiasm for these pursuits lives with me to this day.

Alan was a great friend, a great mountaineer, and a fine back country skier. We took many trips together, but one of my favorites was a trip to Rogers Pass in the Canadian Rockies in 2006. We had a wonderful time climbing and skiing the mountains. Alan always had a broad infectious smile.

Although I did not get to know Alan Durfee, my parents were good friends for many years with Alan´s parents, Sylvia and Bill Durfee both of whom I recall with great fondness and I also remember Alan´s siblings. The Durfee family was very well-regarded in South Hadley. My deepest condolences to Alan´s loved ones and friends.