My first introduction to Doug, although not in person, was in early 1989, when I was a grad student in Leiden, The Netherlands. At that time, I thoroughly read with great interest the published version of his 1983 MIT dissertation, Tone in Lexical Phonology. This work heavily influenced my research on tone at the time, and it remains to this day within easy reach of my desk in the tone section of my library. I have also greatly appreciated Doug’s numerous publications on vowels and vowel harmony.
I finally met Doug in person, in 2001, soon after I arrived at Trinity Western University, and I was immediately impressed with just how nice he is as a person. A few years later, when I asked him if he would be willing to carry out a formal review of our (TWU’s) proposal for an M.A. in Linguistics program, he willingly obliged and wrote a very thoughtful and most helpful review. Over the years, Doug and I have bumped into each other at various academic events, and my estimation of him as a scholar and a person has only grown. Most recently, he has accepted to write an article on polar tones for a volume titled, "Tone phenomena in African languages," which I am currently co-editing with Virginia Beavon-Ham. I very much look forward to reading that article.
Doug, as you retire, I wish you your heart’s desires and good health to enjoy them. And as a fellow Africanist, I leave you this Chumburung blessing: Ebware gya fo kamɛ (May God follow your back). Thank you, Doug!