David Eicher in his Astronomy.com STARMUS VII 2024 REPORT includes that Sir David Attenborough was awarded a Stephen Hawking Medal 2024, though not personally in attendance.
E&OE
BRIAN MAY…. to adjust this…
Ladies and Gentlemen, the recipient of this award can’t be here today. And I would start by saying this is David Attenborough.
I was hoping that someone was gonna supply the eulogy because I don’t really feel worthy. But I would just like to say, I suppose the obvious, that there probably isn’t another man alive, who has done as much to raise awareness across the whole world of the terrible predicament that our biosphere is in right now. There is no one really that we would rather give this award to.
We tried to give it to him in the last Starmus, and he said, “Well, I can’t really make it. Maybe I could make it next time.” And I felt it was a pressure because a lot of these awards ceremonies will sort of give someone an award if they’ll come along, you know, and they gain prestige and I wanted to make it very clear to him that this was not the case.
So I said this year to him… I sent him a message saying, “Would you mind if we just take off the pressure and could we present you with this medal in absentia?”
I’ve known him for some time. He is the most amazing man. And he wrote me a letter. He took a pen and some paper and wrote the letter and signed it, put it in an envelope and stuck a stamp on it. You don’t see this stuff these days, right? This is the letter. It is divine.
“Many thanks for your letter. I am of course greatly complimented to have been awarded the Stephen Hawking medal to be presented in Bratislava.
I’m sorry to say that I can’t really get Bratislava to receive it. So if you could do that on my behalf, I would be hugely grateful. And if you’re able to spare the time needed to deliver it here, well then of course, my cup would brim over. I don’t get around much these days. By the time you read this letter, I will be 98.
Many, many thanks for this fine honour. God bless you all.
Best wishes,
David.”
Ladies and Gentlemen, the incomparable David Attenborough.
WATCH and LISTEN below: Forward to 11m26s.
– https://youtu.be/R17iL4bXWYA