an already thriving disc scene, headed by Mary Lowry and Jeff Jorgenson, and was a founder and captain of the Windjammers. “I was captain because I had a phone. I had a phone at home. A landline, as we call it now. And an answering machine. And a pencil and a pen and paper. I had all that technology.”

4. He was a part of the early Seattle vs. Portland rivalry.

The Windjammers’ main competition was the Dark Star of Portland, a team that ruled the Northwest in the late seventies. They also traveled to Santa Barbara and Vancouver and once flew in two private planes piloted by friends from Boeing. “We played a lot in the rain and the mud in Seattle.” They also played halftime shows in theoriginal take on Spirit and his suggestion for replacing the word, “assist.”

Bill Nye on his love of ultimate.

Bill spent the weekend reminiscing with old friends, meeting the new iterations of Cornell ultimate players, and taking lots of selfies. He usually writes “Bill Nye the Science Guy” when he gives an autograph. I asked him what he wrote on all of the discs he signed. This weekend he wrote either “Flying discs ARE SCIENCE!!” or “Bill Nye 1973.”

He was exuberant and curious and delighted in the connections he found between the past and current generations, and could not have been more accommodating or gracious.

He was — in every respect — Bill Nye the Ultimate Guy.

Photo credit: Jim Gaarder

Film credit: Louie Cohn

Special thanks: Jon Cohn