In memory of Rita Taylor (1928-2018)

(The following tribute to Rita is revised from a November 1990 Rene Donaldson article, in SLAC's "The Interaction Point" newsletter, written on the occasion of Dick Taylor's Nobel Prize in Physics)

...Rita Taylor arrived at the SLAC Library in August 1964 fresh from setting up a model library for the linear accelerator in Orsay, France. She proceeded to apply her experience here, where, as preprint librarian, she helped to build a world-class collection. From 1964 until her retirement in August of 1991, she moved with grace from the world of card files to the world of online databases, while giving professional talks and advice about preprint handling to many other librarians. Rita also edited the "Anti-Preprint" section of "Preprints in particles and Fields" periodical, and tracked elusive high-energy physics conferences to their secret lairs for announcement in the "PPF Conference Previews" section.

It wasn't always easy for Rita to pursue her own interests while taking care of their son Ted and managing the Taylor household, especially during the years when Dick was building and then participating in the Nobel-winning experiment. One way for her to see more of Dick was to prepare and take dinner to him and the other members of his shift. Some of Dick's colleagues still remember Rita's stews and soups, and Barbara Cottrell recently reminded Rita that she made the rest of the wives look bad by bringing Coquilles St. Jacques one night. And, later, just hanging around the experimenters infused Rita with excitement and gave her an idea of what Dick was doing.

Opera buffs, however, know Rita best as the endlessly resourceful producer for Savoyard's, the Stanford Gilbert and Sullivan opera company. A common interest the Taylor's have shared since college is theater and opera. They were both instrumental in the early years of Savoyard's, and Rita remembers the performance of Iolanthe where the capes were made from the old Mem Aud curtain that they bought for $1.05. Now Savoyard's has grown and has a budget many times what it had then. Rita remained active in Savoyard's for 15 years, and during that time, if Gilbert and Sullivan wrote it, Rita undoubtedly produced it.

In a 1990 interview at the University of Alberta, Dick Taylor answered a reporter who asked him if he thought it would have been possible to win the Nobel Prize had he gone to the University of British Columbia instead of the University of Alberta. It didn't take Dick long to reply that, yes, he thought he might have won the Prize if he had attended the University of British Columbia, but not had he married any other woman. Clearly, in his response, Dick summed up the contributions Rita made over the years, not only to his career but also to the SLAC and Stanford communities.

See also: Addis, Louise: "Poor Little Buttercup, 'Bye"... The Interaction Point, August 1991, p.5. (On the occasion of Rita Taylor's retirement from SLAC.)