Barb Koremenos at Michigan emails with her memories of Lee as editor:
Lee and I began our email friendship in early 2005, when Michigan was going to send out for letters. I emailed the managing editor of the APSR about my Revise and Resubmit, stating emphatically that I didn’t want to bother the editor but asking if she had any information about when I might hear etc. since it had been over three months. I received a reply from the APSR almost immediately, stating something along the lines of, “It’s a good thing you’re trying not to bother the editor because he is a grumpy old man who wouldn’t take kindly to such questions.” Of course, that email was from Lee, since the managing editor just happened to be home sick and he was answering emails. I, of course, replied to the APSR, stating I had heard of the editor’s horrendous reputation, which is why I was being so careful. Over the next months, with these roles often in the background, we worked together to turn what had become a conditional acceptance into a full-fledged acceptance.
When I emailed Lee my final draft, I had to break the news to him that I was facing my second brain aneurysm and had surgery scheduled the next month. I told him I would ask my best friend, also an APSR author, to handle any correspondence as well as the copy editing, given that my recovery time would be long and complicated. Lee immediately responded that he would personally see my manuscript through to publication. He said to focus on my health and not worry at all about the manuscript; he volunteered to help copy edit it, go over the proofs, etc. I simply had to recover and wait for it to appear. I was very moved by this offer and accepted it.
Lee was thrilled to hear from me a few weeks after the surgery. I told him I might actually attend the APSA meetings. He once again triumphed over his supposed normal personality and showed great kindness and concern, writing: “I don’t know that I would recommend attending the APSA meeting, though. There will be a lot of political scientists in attendance, and the shock of seeing all those ill-clad, homely people could cause a setback. But I’ll be on the lookout for you, and if I see you I will — and this will be hard for me because I am typical inhibited midwesterner — give you a big hug.”
Through all of the health ups and downs in both of our lives, Lee and I became good email friends, meeting once at an APSA in Chicago. I saved every one of these emails from him. I want to quote one more because it captures the essence of my friend. I had just finished recovering from brain surgery and had begun a high-risk pregnancy. When I shared the news about the most definitive prenatal test showing that all was well, Lee wrote back, saying, “Well, my colleagues who think (often correctly) that I am crusty old cuss would have been surprised to see the tears welling in my eyes when I read your note. It was so nice of you to let me know this grand news.”
So here’s to Lee, who liked to pretend he was a grumpy old man, but in reality was one of the sweetest and most heroic men I’ve ever met.