This past Sunday afternoon, November 16th, 2008, the world lost Colin Martindale: a great creativity researcher and a wildly creative, funny, insightful, personable, and inspiring character (see bio below).
My first interaction with Colin was quite a memorable experience and played a large role in the development of my career. In 2002, as an undergraduate, I was on my way to attend my first ever conference. The topic was the Cognitive Science of Music, and it was to take place in Liège, Belgium. My friend Jonna Kwiatkowski just found out that she couldn't attend, but she said I should hang out with her postgraduate advisor Colin Martindale. She thought we'd get along.
From the minute I met the guy, I liked him. Colin sure knew how to keep it real. At one point in the middle of a keynote talk, he stood up, pulled a cigarette out of his pocket, and whispered in my ear (although I use the word 'whisper' in the most charitable sense), "This talk sucks. I'm going outside to catch a smoke."
Ever since, I read Colin's work with great interest, especially his work on the importance of cognitive disinhibition for creative thought. If anyone possessed a creative mind, it was Colin Martindale.
Colin has touched the lives of many people, and his passing at the age of 65 has shocked many. Below I post a few reactions and remembrances from his last two PhD students Jonna Kwiatkowski and Oshin Vartanian as well as from his extended family in the Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts (Division 10, American Psychological Association).
Since Colin won't be having an funeral, I hope that over the ensuing days, months, and years, people will add their recollections of Colin to this post in the comments section.
R.I.P. Colin Martindale (1943-2008).
---
From Oshin Vartanian:
When I arrived at the doorsteps of Colin's lab as a graduate student, little did I know that I was about to embark on the most formative years of my development as a psychologist. However, the true sign of a great supervisor isn't limited to the guidance that one receives when still under his tutelage, but the generosity with which help is offered long after one has left the lab. Colin was an exceptional supervisor in both respects. Colin's mind functioned as a tremendous litmus test for distinguishing good from bad science, an ability that contributed to his deep distaste for fads. He frequently lamented the fact that scientific findings in the nineteenth century could no longer be referred to as "recent", given that in the bigger picture that is precisely what they were. For all those familiar with Colin's political orientation, I could not help but ask about his state of mind one day after Obama's victory. As usual, a simple inquiry turned into a lengthy correspondence in the course of which he elucidated the machination of the country's entire political system for me. One wouldn't expect any less from him. I will miss Colin tremendously, first and foremost as a dear friend. He is truly irreplaceable.
---
From Jonna Kwiatkowski:
Colin loved the old mainframe printouts for statistics. Even when PC versions of analysis were widely available, he insisted on sending his work to the "big room," and of course sending me, his grad student, over to pick it up. I never minded though because it meant that we were going to spend the afternoon pouring over the output, with him providing his interpretation. Cigarette in his mouth, his 19th century antique ringed fingers would glide over the green and white striped pages - "See this - this is what we were looking for!" I learned more in those afternoons than in any class or job I've ever taken. Colin had a fine, deep, and passionate understanding of creativity and aesthetics - that I was fortunate enough to experience even a small part of his scholarship is one of the great gifts of my life.
---
From James C. Kaufman:
One of my fondest memories of Colin was at my first presentation at APA - it was me, another grad student, and three big names - Simonton, Rothenberg, and Martindale. Colin was funny as hell, and then ducked out early to smoke before popping back in to answer q's. He was irreverent, as his list-serv contributions attest to. I invited him to write the "History of Creativity" chapter for the Cambridge Handbook of Creativity because I couldn't think of who else could pull it off. He was excited about doing it, and I couldn't wait to read his take on everything. He treated me with tremendous respect and I always appreciated that.
---
From Paul Locher:
I was away from my e-mail messages for several days and was very shocked and saddened to learn of Colin's passing when I logged on. Colin and I were working on an upcoming special issue of Empirical Studies of the Arts (ESA) via e-mail as recently as three weeks ago. He wrote a paper entitled "The Evolution and End of Art as Hegelian Tragedy" for the Journal. In it Colin argues and presents evidence "showing that poetry is on the verge of extinction and that classical music, painting, and sculpture are already extinct. Art has come to its predestined end"(manuscript Abstract). Both reviewers of the manuscript found the paper to be brilliant and witty, two of Colin's many gifts mentioned by most of you in your tributes to him, and suggested that a special issue of the Journal be developed using Colin's paper as a target article. Colin liked the idea very much, as did I, and so I invited several well-known scholars from our Division and from other fields to offer their responses to Colin's paper in the form of commentaries. Colin had just finished reading all of the commentaries and was in the process of writing his reply to them for inclusion in the special issue. Unfortunately we will never have his reactions to the commentaries, which he was eager to "take on" in a reply. This special issue of ESA will be published as Volume 27, number 2 in 2009, appearing in August. As one tribute to Colin I will ask the publisher to make the entire special issue available electronically either on the publisher's web site or on the web site of the International Association of Empirical Aesthetics. I'll send a message to the Division with specific information when the special issue is published. On a personal level, I am very grateful to have had Colin as a friend. He has helped me enormously with advice concerning issues related to Division 10, IAEA, and ESA. As others have noted, Colin's advice always came with very amusing commentary. He will surely be missed by all of us.
---
From Jonathan Plucker:
I will always be grateful for Colin's support, both personal and professional. When I started as an assistant professor at the Univ. of Maine, I was surprised how hard it was to get to know people. People weren't unfriendly, then just kept to themselves and their small circles of friends, and new people were definitely "outsiders." But when Colin heard I was on campus, he immediately reached out to me and was happy to sit and chat about life, creativity, research, and lots of other topics. He convinced me that I could do the "professor thing," and his support and encouragement meant a lot to me. A few years later, after I had moved on to another university, Colin called me at home very late one night. The conversation went something like this: "Hey, it's Colin. I'm chairing the Division 10 Elections Committee. We think you should run for such-and-such position. Whaddya think?" Me: "Ummm ..." Colin: "I'm going to take that as a yes, because I want to vote for you. You'll do a great job. Good luck!" Click. That was the start of my serious involvement with the Division, which has been very rewarding for me, again both personally and professionally, for many years now. My final memory of Colin, other than his great e-mails - which never failed to amuse and provoke - was at an APA conference a few years back. Colin walked into a meeting in a bright yellow suit and crazy tie, with his hair all permed out. I asked him how his retirement was going, and he looked me right in the eye, cracked a huge smile, and said, "It's woooonnnnnnderrrrfulll!" He was a character, a bon vivant, a first-rate scholar, and a funny, warm-hearted colleague. I owe him a lot, and I will miss him a great deal.
--
From Christopher Ramey:
