Remembering Amy Davis

Remembering Amy Davis      

Two Saturdays ago, I received an email from Amy Davis’ son saying that she had passed away earlier that morning.  Since then, I’ve spent time thinking of her and how much she meant to me and, I’m sure, many others in the pharma and biopharma industry.

I first met Amy when she was publications director at Interpharm Press, part of Michael Anisfeld’s consulting firm.  At the outset, I was captivated by her breadth of knowledge and interests.  She was small in frame but had energy that positively touched anyone nearby.  While she was at Interpharm she published my first three books in the 1990s.  Later, she started DHI Publications and worked with the PDA expanding their publishing efforts and creating a catalog of books by industry experts on a wide range of pharma and biopharma topics.  We continued our collaboration there as I wrote several other books and chapters for book editors that I have long held in high regard.

Amy knew how to get me to do almost anything.  While she had much patience with her writers, she definitely was able to push my buttons to get me moving.  There were several occasions when I was not meeting my promises to submit a manuscript.  She would casually mention that she had a book proposal on a similar topic from someone else, and she was thinking of accepting that unless I had something to her post-haste.  She was someone who encouraged, prodded, and was able to get you to go beyond the limitations that you set for yourself.

But what I remember most about Amy were our frequent reconnections at industry conferences like the PDA/FDA meetings each September in Washington, D.C.  She knew everybody.  It wasn’t gossip that she would share, but insights on what was going on in different parts of the industry.  She was the consummate networker, introducing people to each other, hoping and watching for a synergistic spark that she could enjoy.  She could have a wicked-brilliant sense of humor that she dispatched over lunches or dinners.  Getting together at meetings often involved some sort of an adventure in the evenings:  a dinner at a new place away from the conference hotel, attending a reception and her arching her eyebrows asking, “Ready?” that would prompt us leave to see a Cirque Soleil performance or a show by Lipsinka.

Amy had a true love for the potential of the pharma and biopharma industry, often asking the question, “why not?”  She usually was not just looking ahead, but wondering what was around the corners that could bring benefits or risks.  She knew that information and knowledge needed to be widely shared and that sharing knowledge did not diminish its worth but could be a tool that improved health and lives.

She often would end a phone call by saying, “Carry on!”.  For me, at least, that is going to be hard not having her at the other end of a phone call or email.  But thinking of her and what she has meant to me for more than 30 years will be the incentive I need.

Amy – many thanks and much love to you.