When Julian Kane speaks or writes, his listeners' eyes do not glaze over nor do his readers doze off. And woe be unto any politician who tries to shut him up when he is ripping into some ill-conceived idea that he believes is disastrous for the environment. Whether he is penning poems about protozoa, or fired up about protecting precious water resources, or exposing the "bone-headedness" of bureaucrats or theorizing about his hypothesis of a distant, undiscovered planet, his lively discourse makes science come alive and accessible to all his students, whether young or old.

Peter Suchmann, chairman of the Great Neck South Middle School's science department, discovered Professor Kane's "Environmental Record" column in the Great Neck Record and began using his writings with students to enrich their studies and to expand upon rather dry science textbooks. Mr. Suchmann was so enthusiastic about the benefits to his students with this supplemental resource that he called the Record to see if he could reach Professor Kane directly.

One thing led to another and before long the two men met. When Mr. Suchmann learned of Professor Kane's prodigious work and prolific writings, he decided to seek the support of the school district administration in collating, copying and distributing Professor Kane's articles so that students at all the secondary schools could have access to the treasure trove. The result was a set of eight binders worth of papers, over 1,000 articles spanning many years of research and hard work. The set of papers will also be presented to Hofstra University where Professor Kane taught geology.

On March 20, a small reception was held at Phipps with the school administrators who had supported the project, Superintendent Ronald Friedman and Assistant Superintendent Terri Horowitz; the chairs of all the science departments, students from Mr. Suchmann's science classes, Professor Kane and his wife, Muriel.

It was a warm, celebratory event with Peter Suchmann formally presenting the stack of bound manuscripts to the science teachers and acknowledging everyone who made the results possible. He also presented a plaque to Professor Kane, making note that if the existence of a planet beyond the hapless Pluto is ever verified, Julian has designated that it should be named after his wife, Muriel.

The board of education at its March 26 meeting also honored Professor Kane with vice-president Judi Bosworth, in President Barbara Berkowitz's absence, thanking him for being an "environmentalist extraordinaire...even when he's been on the opposite side of an issue." She added that Professor Kane has always worked for the good of the environment and for the good of the community.

Professor Kane thanked the board for the recognition and stated, "I'm not done giving." He and Mr. Suchmann are arranging field trips together with the students to "show them how wonderful nature is."

Those of us lucky enough to have been touched, or in some cases prodded by Professor Kane, know that his passion for learning and questioning and his love of teaching is a wonder to experience. We know that nothing could give him more pleasure than to think that his work will continue to spark young minds, even older minds.

Several years ago, he took a whole afternoon marching this reporter around the paludal environs of Mitchell Creek pointing out its unique character and history, a sad tale of a developer tampering with its beauty and bounty. By the end of the afternoon, he had not only sold me on the importance of the story, but had, as a Pied Piper of teachers, added another student to his merry entourage.