From left are Louis Nirenberg and Bluefield, W.Va., native John Forbes Nash Jr. Nash received the Abel Prize, a major international prize in mathematics, May 19, 2015 for inventing new methods of analyzing complex geometric structures.
BLUEFIELD, W.Va. — An American genius, Dr. John Forbes Nash Jr., and his wife of 58 years, Alicia Larde Nash, were pronounced dead at the scene of a two vehicle wreck on Saturday afternoon on the New Jersey Turnpike.
Last Tuesday, Nash had received the prestigious Abel Award in mathematics at a ceremony in Oslo, Norway. He and Alicia were traveling south on the New Jersey Turnpike when the taxi they were riding in collided with a Chrysler Concorde near the 72.4 mile marker near Monroe Township, N.J., according to First Sgt. Gregory Williams of the New Jersey State Police.
“The wreck is still under investigation,” Williams said.
“John was really something,” Joseph M. “Joe” Sanders Jr., said Sunday afternoon soon after learning of his nearly lifelong friend’s death. “We were living on Lebanon Street when John and his family moved to Whitethorn Street. I was a year older than John, but we were good friends.”
Sanders went to a prep school while Nash stayed and received his diploma from Bluefield’s Beaver High School, but in later years, Nash continued communicating with Sanders by sending him hand-written letters, publications and post cards.
“The last time I heard from John was when he was traveling in Greece,” Sanders said. “He sent me a post card from there. Several years earlier, he wrote me a letter when he was at some sort of a conference in Israel. I never knew when I might get something from him…
