Reflections on The Life of Alasdair George McKay

October 24, 2006

 

I am honored to speak at this memorial service and want to express truly
heart-felt sympathy to Pat, Elizabeth and Robbie, and to other members of
Alasdair's family, on behalf of his many friends in the marine geophysical
community; here and around the world.

 

I sailed with Alasdair on many survey vessels and worked with him daily in
my office.  I came to know him well and will miss him deeply.

 

Alasdair McKay had many admirable qualities; any of which, if found in a
man, would be reason to commend.  Finding all these qualities in one man
distinguishes... and Alasdair was a distinguished, gentle man.

 

Alasdair possessed a high intellect yet was never arrogant in his
profession of knowledge.  He calmly listened to discussion or argument
then quietly pronounced - with reasoned, original, incisive arguments of
his own.  His writing was often eloquent and artful, reflecting an
appreciation of irony and a dry sense of humour that was often self-
deprecating.

 

Alasdair completed a Bachelors degree at the University of Glasgow,

a Masters degree in Oceanography at the University of Wales and his
Doctorate in Geophysics at University of Durham.

 

He joined the Nova Scotia Research Foundation when the Foundation had a
mandate to promote economic development of Nova Scotia by exploring land
and sea, using geophysical techniques.

 

The demise of the NSRF Geophysics Section compelled Alasdair to become a
consulting geophysicist; a job description that too often means
"unemployed".  He could have uprooted his family and found highly
remunerative employment in Aberdeen, London, Calgary or Houston but he
chose to remain in Dartmouth.  He formed a company naming it, not
surprisingly, Haggis Geophysics.

 

Alasdair was of course famous in these parts as a supplier of fine Haggis
- that tasteful and mysterious Scottish delicacy.  But his company was not
named for the food but for the mythical little character, the Haggis,
apparently invented by Pictish priests and modeled in front of ancient
congregations as a character made out of a stuffed sheep's stomach.

 

Alasdair worked on many sea-going projects with me even though he suffered
the scourge of sea sickness.  He was a man who could be depended on to do
his duty and beyond.  I remember working with him a few years ago on the
Grand Banks of Newfoundland.  A nasty gale was blowing.  All survey work
ceased, the vessel hove to and became eerily quiet as all supernumerary
personnel abandoned their stations and found refuge in their bunks.  
Making my rounds, I found Alasdair in the recording room, hanging on for
dear life, no doubt feeling wretched, while dutifully standing his watch
alone, making copies of digital data for security purposes.

 

Alasdair was resourceful and imaginative.  In the field, this might mean
"lashing up" some electronics that looked like a nightmare but invariably
worked.

 

A colleague reminded me of an instance that occurred a number of years ago
when we were just beginning to grapple with very large computer files.  
For reasons that escape me, we needed to transfer gigabytes of data but
did not have the capacity in the office.  Alasdair had that capacity in
the computing centre that he and Robbie had constructed at home.  
Alasdair tied our computer to his back and rode off to Dartmouth with it -
on his bicycle.

 

In recent years, Alasdair worked with me and my colleagues in interpreting
3D seismic data from offshore Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Brazil.  We
were in awe of Alasdair's quiet brilliance, his exceptional knowledge of
history and science, and of English etymology.  In fact, it was understood
that in our office, one thought twice about asking Alasdair a question
with an historical basis because he would surely provide an explanation
that approached a dissertation in its length and convolutions, though
demonstrating his passion for the subject.

 

Alasdair was very proud of his children; of Elizabeth's graduation with a
degree in education and of Robbie's successes in computer technologies.  
Alasdair was bemused rather than scornful when Robbie's experiment in mass
data transfer brought the total Eastlink (or Aliant) network to its knees
briefly, a few years ago and in the process established Robbie's own place
in the urban mythology of Halifax.

 

While Alasdair professed to have little interest in bird watching, I know
he was delighted to "tag-along", (as he put it) with Pat and her
bird-watching cohorts to exotic destinations: Islands off SW Nova Scotia,
Cuba, Costa Rica, Hawaii and Belize.

 

I want to close with a quotation from Robert Louis Stevenson that is, by
extension, an eloquent reflection on Alasdair's life:

 

"That man is a success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much;

who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of children;
who has filled his niche and accomplished his task;

who leaves the world a better place than he found it;

 whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem or a rescued soul;

who never lacked appreciation of earth's beauty or failed to express it;
who looked for the best in others and gave the best he had".

 

 

 

John J. McG. Stewart

Halifax, Nova Scotia

October 24, 2006