John and I started our faculty careers just months apart more than three decades ago—he in vegetables and melons, me in cotton. We were forged in the same crucible: a time of intense agricultural crisis, stakeholder pressure, and institutional upheaval. We bore the same scars. That shared experience bound us in a special way, even as our day-to-day paths often diverged. Like the sun and moon, our seasons rarely overlapped—but when they did, we moved in rhythm, able to pick up conversations months later as if no time had passed. That was John: steady, grounded, always ready with insight, and always above the noise.

Over the years, we collaborated on critical efforts—most notably on resistance management for whiteflies, a challenge that demanded cross-commodity solutions. With John’s vision and leadership, we built voluntary stewardship agreements that are still in use a quarter-century later. More recently, we corresponded on a new tool to help growers manage resistance in real time—an app we’ll launch later this year. I had hoped he would be part of its rollout; his voice would have carried it far. Now, we will try to carry it forward in his spirit: practical, generous, and unwaveringly committed to growers.

This very newsletter—Vegetable IPM Updates—was John’s idea, and it thrived under his tireless dedication for decades. It was his way of connecting directly with those he served, every other Wednesday without fail. As we continue this tradition, we invite you to pause and reflect on how John and this newsletter may have touched your life or work. We honor him best by continuing to share the kind of clear, grounded, and useful information he believed in. We all know—that’s what John would have wanted.

-By Peter C. Ellsworth