For those who don't know Shapiro, Shapiro is like Master Yoda to the Jedi Knights ... Howard is one of the fathers of cytometry and one of its great mentors. Apart from his contributions in publications and conferences, he has participated in a very active and always didactic way in cytometry forums, especially the "Purdue Mailing List of Cytometry" that his great friend and also Master Paul Robinson moderates.

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One of Howard's great legacies has been his fantastic book "Practical Flow Cytometry" , considered by many as the "bible of cytometry", which also includes his "commandments": "Shapiro's laws".

His second legacy, his songs, whose lyrics could not be missing in "the Bible" ... The first time I saw Howard in person was at a conference organized by flowcytometryUK. Everyone was waiting impatiently for his talk ... It was the Great Star ... The most awaited moment: Hearing him sing ... That day he couldn't do it the way he wanted ... But with a smile he said something like: “At least I go with technology ”, he opened a music file and there it was ... The surprising thing is that everyone knew the song ... (except me ...). On numerous occasions I have met Howard at conferences and congresses, but I have never had the opportunity to speak with him in person ... he has always been so surrounded and with people lining up to be able, even if only, to say hello or take a selfie with him. him ... Which, by the way, there are several of them very good, even some face changes that are authentic! Trying to get closer to Howard is like trying to get closer to a Rock star ... but without security guards ... Of course, you can see that he enjoys it ... Last year, organizing a workshop on cytometry in Africa, I had my first talk with him on Skype ... And of course, I told him how difficult it has always been to be able to talk to him ... and it's not that I'm shy ... He smiled and said, don't worry, I'll be me whoever calls you ... and they have been doing so ... We have organized and participated in the cytometry workshop in Africa and we are looking for a way to carry out their dream: to develop a fast, safe, efficient, extremely affordable, easy to use and portable for malaria ... This has been and is your great fight. So, if you are interested in helping him, you just have to tell him ...

I was hoping to meet Howard Shapiro in person this year during CYTO2020, but the pandemic has prevented it, so I hope this nightmare is over so I can see him at the next "real" conference and take that selfie that everyone the world wants with a famous ... Although I already have it from a screenshot on Skype ... but it is not the same ... Howard has managed to win not only the great respect of cytometrists, but also their affection and I think it is for this he is admired. There are people and characters that are unique and unrepeatable. Grandmaster Howard Shapiro is without any one of them.

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Another site that I also like is this one written by Rachel Walker about Howard and where you have a summary of Shapiro's Laws: