John Archibald Wheeler
One of last of the "giants of physics," John Archibald Wheeler, passed away on Sunday, April 13, 2008 at age 96. The New York Times obituary can be found here. "Johnny" Wheeler came from a library family. His father, mother, brother, sister, sisters-in-law, daughter, and niece were all librarians, and he was a great advocate for libraries. Probably the most famous of the Wheeler librarians was his father, Joseph Lewis Wheeler. In the early part of the 20th century, he was the director of the Reuben McMillan Free Library in Youngstown, OH, and later became the director of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore. Joseph Wheeler transformed the Pratt Library into a world class library. He retired in 1945, but continued as a library consultant well into his 80s. Showing great admiration of his father, librarians, and knowledge, "Johnny" Wheeler gave the commencement address at the University of Texas Library School. The address was printed in the journal Libraries & Culture (vol. 28, no. 3, p. 327, 1993), and available here.