On August 14, 1997, a bench at the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden was dedicated in memory of James Philip Thornber (1934-1996). In addition to being a supporter of the garden, Dr. Thornber was a professor at UCLA from 1970 until his death at the age of sixty-one. He served as Chair of the Department of Biology from 1982 to 1986, and gave distinguished service on UCLA's Council of Academic Personnel for three years, including one year as chair. In 1994 he took "very early" retirement, which was celebrated on campus with an international symposium on photosynthesis, his research specialty.
Philip was a Yorkshireman, which is virtually synonymous with being "a lover of cricket." Although he gave up a possible career in cricket for science and the opportunity to be a regular spectator of the sport, his love of cricket never diminished. When in 1995 he and his wife, UCLA Professor Elaine Tobin, spent time in Australia, Philip was able to indulge his passion there. He also became enamored of aboriginal art during their stay. When his family decided to donate a bench to the garden in his memory, they wanted it to symbolize important aspects of Philip's life and interests.
Philip's wife, Elaine, daughters Karen Burkenheim and Emma Muchin, and stepsons David and Adam Tobin commissioned the bench, which was created by Alan Paulson, Elaine's brother-in-law and a sculptor at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania. Bronze elements were cast from an Australian cricket bat and ball at the New Arts Foundry in Baltimore, Maryland. The oak seating and back harmonize with the dawn redwood under which the bench sits. The site, chosen because the dawn redwood was one of Philip's favorite trees for Philip, is one to which he frequently took visitors.
"Three elements of Philip's life directed the creative process: his professional interest in etioplasts and chloroplasts; his new discovery and immersion in Australia and its aboriginal peoples; and his basic British roots and love of cricket.
"I made a group of sketches and then discovered in a conversation with Elaine that cricket was an abiding PASSION in Philip's life, so I decided to use those roots in the form of a cricket bat as a theme for the bench. His interest in aboriginal Australians is echoed in a panel at one end of the bench with a design intended to create the feeling from their are that intrigued him. The panel at the other end is a copy of a print of a chloroplast, surprisingly similar to the images of aboriginal art.
"The tool-marked wooden seating slats are used to emphasize his passion for wood and careful craftsmanship. The overhangs beyond the end pieces are intended for children, inspired by Philip's rowing family of grandchildren and certainly built to be climbed upon. The overhang is also a surface that can be used to hold a drink or one's lunch.
"To capture Philip's love, a bench that old and young alike can truly enjoy and use would no doubt delight the man to whom it is dedicated. The notion of his delight in its use and its construction should bring joy to those who knew him."
During your next visit to the garden, find the time to relaxt on the cricket bench. It sits next to the stream and in the shade of the tallest dawn redwood in North America.