Twenty-four years ago, Hellmut Fritzsche came to our laboratory to
evaluate our work in amorphous materials. He came many times, sometimes
bringing his violin to play with our youngest son, to talk, to help, to
discover, and to teach. The times with him were always exciting and
rewarding. There was a camaraderie in the early years that has continued
and a friendship that has deepened among Iris and me and Hellmut,
Sybille and their children. The vision that Hellmut Fritzsche shared
with me, the many important contributions he made, the science that he
helped so firmly to establish, the courage he showed in the time of our
adversity, and the potential that he recognized put all of us in the
amorphous field, not only his close friends and collaborators, in his
debt. He helped make a science out of intuition, and played an important
role not only in the experimental field but also in the basic
theoretical aspects. It has been an honor to work with Hellmut through
the years.