Even though I felt very connected to Barry, I had only met him once.

It was at ParnassaFest during the Winter of 2009. Amy had organized it, and she and Barry were sitting at the greeting table getting everyone’s info. Somehow Amy and Barry had overheard my maiden name, Statman. Barry looked me straight in the eye and said, “We’re related. I’m your brother-in-law’s brother-in-law’s brother-in-law.”

I was like, “Huh?”

He repeated himself and asked me to guess who his brother-in-law was. While I was squirming and giggling, he comported himself very professionally, waiting for me to figure out this riddle. I guessed Daniel Hirshel.

He encouragingly said, “Close!” And on my second try, I got it right, “Adam Hofstetter.”

I could tell just from this little interchange that this serious guy was a guy who was serious about humor.