Hi Gary, / Alas, your suspicions are fully justified! Last fall, our CFMS representative, Shirley Leeson, asked me for a name to present for consideration as the 2001 CFMS Scholarship Honoree. Yours came to mind immediately, and the SDMG Board of Directors approved your nomination in a heartbeat. ... / Congratulations, / Anne   (text of note and reply)

Dear Dr. Peterson: / The Southern Utah University students, faculty and staff were most pleased to have you as our Convocation speaker on March 1. It is always a privilege to have a speaker of your expertise and accomplishment visit with our students and encourage them in their future endeavors. / We have enclosed a videotape of your presentation and hope you will enjoy it as much as we did. ...

Comment: A videotape was made for the lecture and for a one-half hour television interview following the presentation. Both were showed over SUTV-9. Some day I may incorporate parts of the tape on this web site, but the know-how exceeds my capabilities at the moment.

Dear Gary: / On behalf of the members of the San Diego Section of Sigma Xi, I thank you for your very interesting and thought provoking talk "The Geological Case for Life on Mars," which you gave at the Sigma Xi meeting on April 4, 2001. Those present appeared to enjoy the talk as much as I did and, indeed, it provoked quite a lot of discussion at the end of the lecture. ...

Dear Gary, / I wanted to thank you again for your talks on Mars that you presented at our seminars a couple weeks ago. It was great to have you here and to have two very thought-provoking and well-reasoned talks. ... If you are out our way again, we would be delighted to have you for a repeat engagement. / With best regards, / Bill Nesse

Thanks Gary, / ... It was by far the most thought-provoking talk I've heard in some years. / Cheers, Eli

Dr. Peterson / ... Looking forward to hearing you again. My girl friend first heard you the last time you talked to us and doesn't want to miss this talk either. You and an individual from the Orange County Astronomers have been my most requested speakers for the last three years. I think you do a very valuable service sharing your scientific expertise with the interested public and I for one can not thank you enough.

Thanks very much for a great colloquium! We will invite you back next year. Meanwhile, please send me your mailing address so that we can send you a T-shirt. / Thanks, Howard Lukefahr

Hi Dr. Peterson, I have a beautiful plaque for you and hope you'll be available Friday, October 19 at 7pm at the SDMG building in Balboa Park so we can present it to you. Our California Federation president wants to be there to help present the plaque and meet you. ... / We hope to see you then, please let me know as soon as possible if you're able to attend. Hope you have found some deserving students for the scholarships. / Regards, Shirley Leeson

Gary- / Thank you again for last night...  not only was it the best talk I've heard from you yet, but it was one of the best in the nine years of the lecture series!!

Gary, / Thanks so much, I will really try to be there. I am fascinated about what you have figured out. Really terrific! / Eric

Good Morning Dr. Peterson, / I'm a big fan of your website and what your are working so hard to accomplish. Since I am on the east coast (Boston area), I haven't had the pleasure of hearing you talk in person. But, if someone webcasts one of your talks, I'd be sure to tune in. ... ( Click here for full message and two links to some interesting and potentially useful software.)

Gary, / Thank you so much for the wonderful presentation at the Antelope Valley Astronomy Club meeting! Your talk was one of those that all will remember & look back on in the years to come. Thanks again.

Professor Peterson: / Thanks for the thought provoking presentation on Mars at last night's OCA meeting. I always enjoy the new perspective you bring to planetary geology. / Chris Buchen ...

Dr. Peterson, / Thank you for the incredible and wonderful talk you presented last evening at Chapman (University). Please know that I heard nothing but compliments about how clear and interesting the presentation was to our members and guests. We at the OCA are grateful to have had you last evening as a speaker and in the previous lectures you have presented to us. Comments about your "building a planet" lecture technique were that people appreciated its effectiveness in explaining fundamental concepts and broadening their experiences in understanding the later concepts in the lecture. Thank you, on behalf of the rest of our Board of Directors, and Trustees. / Sincerely, / Bruce Crowe

Dear Dr. Peterson: / To follow up on Bruce Crowe's message, besides the enthusiastic comments I heard from people at the meeting on Friday, several people mentioned your talk to me when I was out at our Anza site for the star party on Saturday night. They all said how much they enjoyed it and how informative they found it. / Thanks again for coming, and I'm sorry that your trip up to Orange County proved to be so much more difficult than usual - we really appreciate your determination to make it through all that traffic. Please keep us in mind for future talks, as we would be delighted to have you come again to share your knowledge and insights with us. / Very truly yours, / Barbara Toy

Dear Gary, / ... You've become the Michael Jackson of comparative planetology -- who would have predicted that from the Gary Peterson I knew during my days at SDSU?! It's obvious that you're having a great time and enjoying the new persona to the hilt -- and that's *great*!

Hi Gary! / It was nice to meet you and I really enjoyed the talk. I have heard about the warmer Mars but never had it explained before. I think my students enjoyed your talk as well. ...

hi, all. NOTE that this month's talk will be given by our own, most illustrious Prof. Gary Peterson !! as any of you know who have attended his planetary geology talks, he is undoubtedly the best (most informative, thought-provoking, and entertaining) speaker on our faculty! ...

Gary, / The Members of the Antelope Valley Astronomy Club just can't stop talking about your talk. Several more members wished to donate towards your talk. So...... (check included) here you are. / Thanks again / Terry Pedroza

Comment: The astronomical societies of Southern California provide visiting speakers with honoraria ranging up to $150. Such awards have no bearing on when or whether I will speak, but the jesture is appreciated and I donate such proceeds to the Baylor Brooks Scholarship Fund, an award presented annually to the best of our beginning geology majors.

The AVAC is unique in that they present a visiting speaker with an honorarium of $25 and, in addition, collect audience donations of whatever anyone cares to give. I'm somewhat amazed in that the donations at my talk almost quadrupled the amount  of the honorarium. It's an interesting system. More clubs ought to try something like this. They might be able to do away with honoraria altogether, or just gaurentee a certain amount in cases of insufficient donations. In any case, I certainly enjoyed the remarkably warm reception provided by the AVAC.

This memorandom is to inform you that the Department of Geological Sciences has completed its five-year periodic evaluation of your teaching, research, and service activities. Clearly the highlights of the period are your accomplishments in planetary geology and the sharing of your thoughts and hypotheses to a wide audience via your web site (The Independent Planetologist) and an extremely impressive list of talks given to societies and universities in the western United States. You are to be congratulated for the scholarship monies ($8K) your efforts have produced, as well as donating your talk honararia (~$4K) to the Department. ...

Comment: It would have been nice to have received at least a token "merit salary increase," but such awards are based primarily on one's research activity and what I'm doing is not considered research at San Diego State.

Professor Peterson, / I enjoyed your talk, at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center (10 April 2002), regarding "Why is Mars Red?" very much! I think you are right! Time and study will tell! I wish your talk were recorded or written down so I could study it and think about it more. / Respectfully yours, / Al Aburto

Gary, / Your presentation to the San Diego Association of Geologists in March 2002 was one of the best geology talks I have been to in a long time. It has been nearly 20 years since I sat in your classroom. I had forgotten what an informative and entertaining speaker you are. I still recall (and utilize) your lessons on the importance of the quality of slides in a presentation. Good to see that you practice what you teach.

Aw, Gary ... you always had it in you to amaze and delight. Am glad that you're finally reaching a larger audience. / ... / Glad that things are going well for you, big guy. You deserve anything good that happens. You are a very good person. / xxoo / PEG