Editor’s Note: On April 9, 2004, Larry Durney—a valuable and much-loved member of the finish-ing community—passed away. This month, Reality Check Writer Matthew Little goes on a brief hiatus while Guest Writer Gerard Poll offers his thoughts on Mr. Durney’s life and his contributions to the industry.
Lawrence J. Durney died on April 9 in North Caldwell, NJ at age 82. He wrote the “Finishing Clinic” column in Products Finishing for more than 20 years. He was a research chemist, vice president and technical director for Frederick Gumm Chemical Company, Kearny, NJ, for 18 years. Larry retired from Gumm in 1985 and operated a consulting firm after retiring.
He held several patents in the field and was the editor for the Electroplating Engineering Handbook. He wrote the chapter on electroplating for Ullmans Encyclopedia in Germany and was the author of several books published by Products Finishing, including Trouble in Your Tank? and You Can Manage that Finishing Shop. Larry was also one of the teachers for a training course offered by Products Finishing.
He was recognized in the electroplating industry for his encyclopedic knowledge of chemical processes associated with finishing. He understood theory but was an expert at translating it into language of practical benefit to operators of finishing lines in industrial plants. The American Electroplaters and Surface Finishers Society honored him in 1977 with the Carl Heussner Award.
His Finishing Clinic column addressed a wide range of technical topics, fielding questions from thousands of platers and others who read PF. After he wrote his last column in 1996, I wrote an editorial thanking him for his contributions to PF. In it I mentioned that Larry’s replies to questions from readers were based largely on experience. “He spent his early post-college years in rubber boots on a plating line, solving his own problems. Later he worked for suppliers of proprietary chemicals in ‘technical service,’ which translates to ‘OK I bought your stuff and now I’m getting rejects, so DO SOMETHING.’ Larry solved a lot of problems as a plater and as a supplier. But unlike a lot of us he had a memory chip in his head that retained information about everything he had tried and why it worked or didn’t work.” That storehouse of technical information was a treasure trove in answering questions from our readers.
The column always ranked very high when we surveyed readers of PF. He was immensely helpful to the editors and to readers. We appreciate all he did for us and offer our sincere condolences to Marie, his wife, and his family.—Jerry Poll, publishing consultant.
