Following the untimely and sudden death of Glenn Maffia, Voices Newspaper’s long-time columnist, on January 10, a number of his peers and close friends remember him with fondness in their own words:

Izabela Miszczak, freelance photographer, journalist, and travel writer.

When I first met Glenn it was in my role as the editor of the Turkish Archaeological News portal. Driven by his deep passion and devotion to the Temple of Apollo in Didyma and its surrounding historical environment, he commented on my post reviewing the recent archaeological discoveries from the area of Turkey, stating that not enough space was devoted to Didyma.

True to his word, as our relation and then friendship developed, Glenn continued to describe this magical archaeological site, but also his worries concerning its state of preservation and uncertain future. Over the years, he authored tens of texts on various aspects of Didyma’s archaeology that he published on the Turkish Archaeological News portal. He even authored a whole book devoted to this site, “Faint Whispers from the Oracle”, which I was more than happy to publish not in one but in two editions.

Even now, the memories of our meetings in Didim warm my heart, as Glenn was a generous host to my family, a wonderful companion during the visits to Didyma and Miletus, and, last but not least, a great conversationalist.

He clearly enjoyed lively discussions and did not steer away from some controversial subjects, such as the repatriation of the archaeological heritage from the UK. One of the greatest moments of our friendship was the visit to the British Museum, where we could laugh at our differences concerning the opinion on the future of the Elgin Marbles.

The news of Glenn’s passing has left a great emptiness that will be impossible to fill, both in his role as ancient Didyma’s protector and advocate, and as one of the most kind-hearted people that I was privileged to meet.

Ulf Weber, German archaeologist.

I met Glenn for the first time in summer 2010, as we German archaeologists started to dig out the theatre of ancient Didyma. I was happy to meet someone who was really interested in our work. By the way, most of my collegues were not interested. And Glenn was the only ‘local’ who looked for our work frequently. I liked to talk with him at the side near to the Oracle pension.

But we archaeologists were under strong orders to speak with nobody about our excavation. Glenn tried his whole life to get in contact with Helga Bumke, our boss. But he failed. She did not answer his emails. So he tried to get in touch with her superiors. No success from either the director of the German Archaeological Institute at Istanbul, nor the one at Berlin. This was frustrating to him. But he stayed always kindly. To me that is just a well-known example of academic arrogance towards supposed non-specialists.

The increased German lack of interest in Didyma was confirmed last year. The German Archaeological Insitute started the process to hand over the Didyma excavation to the authorities of Türkiye.

Glenn campaigned always for the research and preservation of the ancient ruins of Didyma. He wrote even a guide book. A dream of his was a virtual reconstruction of the Temple of Apollo like a hologram. Glenn could not experience this, but perhaps the new ‘owners’ of the temple will realize this someday.

When I left the German excavation of Didyma in 2015, I could be sure that Glenn would inform me about all the ‘progress’ of the excavations. The content of these ‘secret’ reports I even used for my book on Didyma. Now I am missing Glenn. You only realize how valuable a person was after their death.

Alper K. Ates, astro-archaeologist

Several years ago, my friend Izabella Miszczak mentioned a close friend wanting to discuss some ideas about the orientation of the Temple of Apollo in Didyma. This is how I got to know Glenn.

At the time Glenn had a feeling that the temple was not arbitrarily placed on the ground: it was most likely constructed on an axis pointing towards the rising direction of the constellation Gemini. After some correspondence, in the summer of 2019 Iza, myself and the families got together in Didim.

We spent two days with Glenn. The depth of his knowledge was impressive and his love for the place obvious. Talking to him felt like getting information directly from a member of the cult of Apollo. During our discussions I realised that it was more than academic interest, he was dedicated to the temple. By choosing to live in Didim he was as close as one can be to the sacred ground thus able to share the same earth with a long-gone people whom he admired.

We worked on and off for four years on the orientation problem. Glenn’s intuition proved to be correct, the temple was indeed aligned towards the heliacal rising direction of Castor, the brightest star of the zodiacal constellation Gemini.

For the past 2300 years the stars simultaneous rise with the Sun had appeared as a celestial spectacle only visible from inside the temple. The study became a scholarly article and accepted for publication in a refereed journal last year. As it turns out it became the first proven case of a stellar alignment in 150 years of archaeoastronomy.

I have no idea how he came to the celestial bearing idea; it just occurred to him and there it was; if this doesn’t make a person an oracle I don’t know what does. He was truly the last priest of the cult of Apollo.

Glenn opened a whole new and fertile study field before me. For that I am eternally grateful. It saddens me to think that he did not live to see his name in the academic citations. My only consolation is knowing that he was happy to see his big question answered and he knew that his legacy was to be remembered in the research papers for many years to come.

I am certain that Apollo will reward his loyal disciple taking him to afterlife on the celestial swan. There he will be embraced by the Branchidae brethren. I can’t imagine him wondering far from the temple for very long. Should we find ourselves alone inside the temple in the early morning hours during the summer solstice we will probably hear “faint whispers from the oracle”. Have no fear, it’s Glenn and the Branchidae watching the rising of Castor.