▁and ▁the ▁University ▁of ▁California ▁at ▁Ber keley . ▁At ▁Par s ons ' ▁ret irement ▁ban quet , ▁on ▁May ▁ 1 8 , ▁ 1 9 7 3 , ▁Robert ▁K . ▁M erton ▁was ▁asked ▁to ▁pres ide , ▁while ▁John ▁R iley , ▁Bernard ▁Bar ber , ▁J esse ▁Pitts , ▁Neil ▁J . ▁Sm el ser , ▁and ▁John ▁Ak ula ▁were ▁asked ▁to ▁share ▁their ▁experiences ▁of ▁the ▁man ▁with ▁the ▁audience . ▁ ▁Brown ▁sem in ars ▁One ▁scholar ▁who ▁became ▁important ▁in ▁Par s ons ' ▁later ▁years ▁was ▁professor ▁Martin ▁U . ▁Mart el , ▁of ▁Brown ▁University . ▁They ▁had ▁made ▁contact ▁in ▁the ▁early ▁ 1 9 7 0 s ▁at ▁a ▁discussion ▁of ▁an ▁article ▁that ▁Mart el ▁had ▁written ▁about ▁Par s ons ' ▁work . ▁Mart el ▁arranged ▁a ▁series ▁of ▁sem in ars ▁at ▁Brown ▁University ▁in ▁ 1 9 7 3 ▁to ▁ 1 9 7 4 , ▁and ▁Par s ons ▁spoke ▁about ▁his ▁life ▁and ▁work ▁and ▁answered ▁questions ▁from ▁students ▁and ▁fac ulty . ▁Among ▁the ▁participants ▁at ▁the ▁sem in ars ▁were ▁Mart el , ▁Robert ▁M . ▁Marsh , ▁Diet rich ▁R ues chem ey er , ▁C . ▁Parker ▁Wolf , ▁Albert ▁F . ▁W essen , ▁A . ▁Hunter ▁Dup ree , ▁Philip ▁L . ▁Qu inn , ▁Ad rian ▁Hay es ▁and ▁Mark ▁A . ▁Sh ield s . ▁In ▁February ▁to ▁May ▁ 1 9 7 4 ,