The author has known Gary Nash as a friend since 1969, but she only began to work with him as a colleague in 1989, when he invited her to join the National Center for History in the Schools (NCHS) as it was just forming. During the seven years she spent as Assistant and then Associate Director of the NCHS, they shared the extraordinary experience of working with teachers to develop curricula and the National History Standards, and then of defending the standards when the U.S. Government and a horde of pundits turned vehemently against them in 1994--a turning point in the national culture wars that has not been forgotten. Given this long friendship and close working relationship, she has had ample opportunity over the years to observe Gary at work under ordinary and extraordinary conditions. In this article, the author reflects on Gary's remarkable career as a distinguished scholar, an award-winning UCLA professor, and most unusually, as a top scholar who has also devoted a good part of his professional life to improving history education in K-12 schools.