I think many of you may be interested to know of a panel that was held Friday morning at the APSA convention, honoring Nelson Polsby.  Four very distinguished panelists--David Mayhew, Byron Shafer, Norman Ornstein, and Anthony King--described Polsby's enormous contributions to our understanding of Congress, political parties, elections, and many more of the most important features of American (and British) politics.  These panelists and some in the audience--which included most of the people who would appear on an all-star team of present-day students of politics--described Polsby's distinctive qualities as a scholar, including his innovative ideas and explanations, his willingness to draw on all forms of information and all methods that can be made to contribute to understanding a problem, his determination to find answers to the most important problems and, of course, his incisiveness and wit.  They also spoke at length about his remarkable generosity, to which I can !
 also testify, as can many of you.  All of us who study politics, whether as lawyers, political scientists, or others, benefit directly and indirectly in more ways than we can estimate, from what Polsby has accomplished.
 
 
          Best,
 
          Daniel Lowenstein
          UCLA Law School
          405 Hilgard
          Los Angeles, California 90095-1476
          310-825-5148