On Tuesday, October 11, 1967, the phone rang at about six in the morning. This was about an hour and a half before my normal time to get up. It was a phone call from a Swedish journalist who told me that I had been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics that year. The stated work for which I was being awarded the prize was the discovery of stellar energy production mechanisms. This, of course, made me very happy.

The phone never stopped ringing that morning. If it wasn't friends or family calling with congratulations, it was journalists wanting to know how I felt. My brother-in-law, who was visiting from England, was afraid that World War III had started and that it was the government calling so often. My wife was sleeping blissfully in another room. She finally woke up around 7:30 A.M.I had just enough time to tell her what had happened before the Swedish reporter Mr. Feldkirch arrived to film my day. At about the same time, a call came,which Rose answered. It was from the University wanting to know whether they could schedule interviews and a reception. Knowing my dislike of disruptions of my normal schedule and still half asleep, she responded, "Okay. The day is shot anyway." This answer made the local news, and she had to live with it for along time.