Would one of you who knew Ed Branch more closely please write and post an obituary? I swapped multiple e-mails with him beginning around 2002. I was always amazed his depth of knowledge. He would frequently begin things, "I've sold my library, but I think..." and then rattle off verbatim something profound, but little-known. He had an amazingly agile mind -- even though he was in his late 80s and early 90s. He was extremely generous and still excited by new material or a provocative thought. He enjoyed and encouraged people who were doing research. He was kind to me, even when I was reinventing the same wheel he had created long ago. I remember a specific incident where we corresponded about a letter in a Hannibal paper from 1861 signed Sam and referencing the "seat of war." I was quite excited. He was thoroughly familiar with it. Despite his vast knowledge, it was obvious that Ed never surrendered to the temptations of scholasticism. He never had a whiff of that "everyone-who-matters-knows-that" condescencion. You mourn differently when someone has lived to be 93. Although his life was fulfilled, it seems to me that Ed's death is a real loss to this field. It is definitely a milepost. It would be nice if one of you who knew him better would post an appreciation of his life. I thought he was a great guy. Terrell Dempsey