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Paul Gladstone, 1945-2004: Researcher's Life Mixed Science, Improv Peers found he stimulated new ways of thinking By CAROL SMITH SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER Paul Gladstone, a "scientist's scientist," had a knack for improvising, a gift that served him well on two different stages -- one academic and the other theatrical. A researcher in the field of immunology, Gladstone was also an early member of two of Seattle's best-known improvisational theater groups, "Off the Wall" and later "None of the Above." He died last Friday at age 58 of complications of Parkinson's disease. Gladstone had an unusually curious mind, and was constantly "thinking outside the box," said Jerry Nepom, director of the Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason, who met him when they were both graduate students at Harvard University 30 years ago. He sought new research frontiers, moving from his doctoral work in fungal genetics to post- doctoral work at the University of Washington in immunology, then a field in its infancy. "He was an impatient scientist," Nepom said. "Once he discovered something, where other scientists would have bored into it and filled out the puzzle, he wanted to go on to discover the next puzzle." That approach suited the emerging field he was working in. His early work helped unravel how some of the master genes of the immune system worked, Nepom said. But that may not be his most memorable scientific legacy. "With other scientists you can quantify their contribution based on number of publications," said Ed Clark, professor of immunology and microbiology at the UW, who worked with Gladstone for 25 years. In Gladstone's case, he may well be best remembered among his scientific peers for his ability to catalyze new ways of thinking and get people excited about them. "He was kind of a free-agent scientist who, when you started talking with him about science, was more interested in the work you were doing than (talking about) his own," said Clark, who recruited the young Gladstone to be a senior scientist at Genetic Systems, one of Seattle's earliest biotechnology companies now merged into Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. "He was always asking very penetrating and thoughtful questions. He was very stimulating." Gladstone, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's at 39, nevertheless participated in scientific roundtables and discussion groups until about 18 months ago, when the disease finally robbed him of his gravelly voice and sly grin. That kind of invigorating repartee is also what fueled his love of improv theater, which he took up more than 20 years ago. Improv, based on audience input and its play off other actors, gave him a perfect outlet for his quick mind, said Roberta Maguire, sometimes called the "godmother of Seattle improv" who met him after moving here from Chicago's Second City improv group in 1979. "To be good at improv, you have to really listen well and take care of each other," she said. "You can never block each other's ideas. You're always building on each other. It takes a person of great generosity to do it well." In fact, that's a good description of how he lived his life. "He was brilliant, witty, sweet and opinionated," said Elizabeth Roth, his former wife. "He always wanted to know your story." One of his great frustrations in the end was finally being unable to physically care for his 13-year-old daughter, Danielle, although he could still make her laugh, she said. "They were funny together." Gladstone tackled Parkinson's disease, a debilitating illness that attacks the motor pathways in the brain, with characteristic intellectual curiosity. His interest in science dated to his boyhood in Queens, N.Y., where it was nurtured by a high school biology teacher, said his brother, Louis Gladstone of Albany. He never wavered from that path, even after an aunt tried to interest him in medicine, so it was an ironic twist that it was medicine that claimed his attention at the end. He learned everything he could about Parkinson's, but then moved beyond his own self-interest in better treatment, said Clark. He developed some new theories about how the immune system interacts with neurotransmitters in the brain, another new field sometimes referred to as psychoneuroimmunology, and was so passionate about it that he taught extension classes at the UW, many of them filled with fellow Parkinson's patients. And he fought the effects of the disease, refusing to use a wheelchair and tinkering with his own treatments, sometimes to the frustration of those who cared for him. He brought an intense focus to everything he did, said Shelley Tucker, a poet and friend of 35 years. "He showed up for his life." A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Sunday at Bonney-Watson Funeral Home on Capitol Hill. Donations can be made in his name to Parkinson's Action Network at 1000 Vermont Ave. N.W., Suite 900, Washington, D.C. 20005, or on the Web at http://www.parkinsonsaction.org P-I reporter Carol Smith can be reached at 206-448-8070 or [log in to unmask] SOURCE: Seattle Post-Intelligencer http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/156889_gladstoneobit16.html * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn