Adrian Introduction

The first time I met Adrian was at a JPL meeting regarding spacecraft communication standards (specifically, the “Green-box” being proposed by Adrian and his cohort Ed Greenberg). My boss had sent me to the meeting to suss out what “those two were up to”. While I did not have the technical background to observe anything useful for my boss, I was mesmerized by “the Hooke”. Toward the end of the meeting when everyone but Adrian had voiced their views, it was clear that the one thing missing was consensus. I watched as Adrian took a deep breath and said “This is what it looks like to me”. What followed was a clear vision of what was needed and why, and a group that suddenly coalesced into agreement. Not for the last time.

We lost this man in January of 2013. Many of us were devastated, and some (including me) still are and probably always will be. While Adrian was easy to get to know, he held his core self tightly inside. My hope for this website is to present a picture of him, to his friends, his collaborators, and even to his family and me, that helps us hold this multifaceted man in our hearts. I draw on the commentary received from his friends and colleagues, his core temperament and personality type, his origins, and his personal and professional development as reflected in his journals, work records, and the thousands of slides and pictures he took throughout his life. As we all know, he was a multimedia guy.

One proviso. My intent for the site is not to capture his entire life’s history. While staying this side of gonzo journalism, I take an author’s discretion to offer selected vignettes that may illuminate for us the pieces of the puzzle, that when taken together, give us the remarkable Arthur Adrian John Hooke.

Many thanks to his wide community of associates who shared their views with me. As always, all mistakes are mine.