John Horton Conway (1937-2020)
John Horton Conway passed away from COVID-19 this year. I was able to attend an online memorial organized by BAAM and the Gathering for Gardner group. The event was well-attended as many wanted to give their final respects to Conway . The online memorial was the only safe way for many to gather during a pandemic. There were many luminaries in attendance including Donald Knuth and Sir Roger Penrose. Penrose would later win the Nobel Prize in Physics that year. Thanks to Bob Hearn, Nancy Blachman, Scott Vorthmann, Frank Farris , and Stacy Speyer for organizing this virtual event! My first encounter with Conway was on July 28, 1993 during the Fermat Fest in San Francisco. This event was held at the Exploratorium to celebrate (prematurely) Andrew Wiles' proof of Fermat's last theorem. Conway was among the distinguished group of mathematicians who presented during this event. Fermat Fest 1993 tickets Fermat Fest 1993 at the Exploratorium Fermat Fest programme