One of Ernie’s greatest achievements was overseeing the design and construction of the sprawling campus of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in Patancheru, Telangana, India.

Ernie was fond of telling stories of the discovery of ancient Hindu idols during routine road building operations on the site in 1973. He joined an ecstatic crew of workers who retrieved an enormous 5-ton, 1,000-year-old statue of Ganesha, one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu Pantheon. It was seen as the greatest possible blessing of the new institute. That statue still graces the ICRISAT campus and is an inspiration to all who pass it.

By the way, how do I get a copy of Ernie & Jean's book:  Our Families, Farms and Stories: From Alabama to India, International Agricultural Research and Back Home, ISBN 978-0-9905675-3-0.