Niagara Falls, I Thought It Would be Bigger!

It was a great honour and delight when Alan Wayne Jones visited me in Toronto on his way back to Sweden from lecturing at the Borkenstein course in Bloomington, Indiana, in June 1993. He stayed at my place in Toronto for a few days and I showed him around.

I first took him to the Toxicology Section of the Centre of Forensic Sciences at 25 Grosvenor Street, where he was impressed by the H. Ward Smith library, as most forensic labs did not have such a large and extensive library. As a forensic toxicologist, Wayne understood the value of a comprehensive research collection. He gave a great lecture to the staff, showing all his latest research.

All of the Toxicology section took him out to dinner at an authentic and highly rated Chinese restaurant in east Toronto Chinatown. The dinner was pre-ordered by our Chinese-Canadian toxicologists who honoured him by ordering all expensive seafood – a real honour. But I don’t think Wayne thought so. He didn’t complain, but as one exotic Chinese dish was brought out, I could see Wayne was a bit disappointed. I think he would have preferred a hamburger and fries. Even the world’s top forensic toxicologist appreciates simple pleasures.

Several mornings and evenings we sat in the Muskoka chairs on the front veranda surrounded by trees and beautiful flowers. He looked around, sighed, and said his highest compliment: “You know you could read a lot of papers here.” Which over the years I have.

He was also complimentary about my writing. He said I used a lot of active verbs rather than passive verbs – a lesson I have carried with me throughout my career as a forensic toxicologist.

I was impressed that my wife Penelope seemed to easily engage Wayne in animated talking. A lot of people find him a bit laconic. She said he was easy to talk to – just ask him about alcohol. That was the key to Wayne. As a forensic toxicologist, his entire world revolved around alcohol research, and he lit up whenever the conversation turned to his life’s work.

I drove Wayne in the lab car to Niagara Falls on his last day. All the way down he read papers and talked to me about alcohol and didn’t look at the scenery. I think in part he liked me because I was one of the few people who had read all his work and could discuss it with him.

I decided that we would visit the Spanish Aero Car and Whirlpool Rapids first before seeing the falls. When we arrived, he finally looked up from his papers, looked at the rapids, and said: “Funny, I thought it would be bigger.”

Our next stop at Niagara Falls did not disappoint him. The falls, unlike the rapids, lived up to their reputation. But the moment became a running joke between us for years – the world’s top forensic toxicologist more interested in papers than scenery.

Wayne Jones is such a prolific alcohol researcher with over 400 publications that he is used as the default answer if an expert is questioned on the stand about where a study is published. The expert can say “A.W. Jones or Wayne Jones” and be reasonably confident that the issue had already been researched and published by him.

Except one incompetent defence expert who tried to impress the judge that he knew the great international forensic alcohol scientist: “Al, I know Al well, and he said I was right.” Needless to say, the judge was not impressed, as anyone who knows A.W. Jones knows he is always called “Wayne” not “Al”. As a forensic toxicologist, your credibility depends on getting the details right – including the names of the giants in your field.

It was an honour and privilege to have known Wayne Jones over the years, including as a fellow lecturer on the Borkenstein course. In my opinion, Wayne is the top forensic alcohol scientist in the world of all time – greater than E.M.P. Widmark, R.F. Borkenstein, K.M. Dubowski, or even me!

He gave my wife a beautiful Swedish glass candle holder which I value as a token of our mutual admiration and respect for over 30 years. It provides a warm, welcoming light especially during the Christmas holidays and the long cold winter nights.

Wayne Jones also graciously provided the Foreword to the Second Edition of Wigmore on Alcohol. He wrote:

“The preparation of this book was an enormous undertaking and has meant collecting, collating, reading, summarizing and sorting through thousands of journal articles. There is no doubt that the author possesses a broad knowledge of the entire discipline of forensic alcohol analysis and toxicology. The structure of the book is unique in a number of ways and in my opinion represents the best single reference source for medicolegal professionals.”

Coming from the greatest forensic toxicologist of all time, those words mean more to me than any award.