Convention planners scheduled many sessions in Hynes Auditorium, a cold concrete hangar connected by an open-air mail to the Sheraton-Boston, but renovations were still under way during the meeting. In fact, the entire second floor didn’t exist, requiring a shift to various parts of the Sheraton and Marriott hotels, a brisk five-minute walk away. After a few days of braving the elements, some participants were rearranging their schedules to remain inside the Sheraton.
The dreadful weather seemingly inspired in many a need for comic relief—a lighthearted session on “Science and Humor” was packed. Stand-up pharmacognosticist Norman R. Farnsworth of the University of Illinois regaled the crowd with the story of how he tried to bring a suitcase full of huge phallus-shaped tree cuttings (with, of course, alleged aphrodisiac properties) from South America through airport customs at O’Hare. He also recounted a research paper on “bozotropine”—a hormone found only in department ...
