Doran Ross was special—a person whose heart, spirit, biting sense of satire and humor, and love for life—touched countless souls. His departure leaves a massive void in the world of African arts, the museums devoted to presenting them, and my own life. It was an honor to be invited to curate the exhibition Beads, Body, and Soul: Art and Light in the Yorùbá Universe. When we first began to discuss the scope of the project, Doran envisioned something grand and deep as well as challenging so we had lots of conversations and debates about what to include and how to organize the presentation. He readily agreed to include the Yorùbá diaspora so I invited John Mason (founder of the Yorùbá Theological Archministry in Brooklyn, NY) to curate that part of the exhibition.Doran loved to invent exhibition titles and this project was no exception. I remember most vividly our friendly, playful battle to find one—something that Doran relished, for he was a master “title-creator.” When we began the project in 1996, we submitted a publication grant application to the Getty Foundation and at that point, we used what must have been Doran's playful invention: The Bead Goes On: Art and Light in the Yorùbá Universe. But that was only a “working” title. Sometime later, after a long day at the museum, we left with David Mayo (the Fowler's exhibition design guru) to have a meal and “title-throwdown” at Doran's favorite Japanese restaurant. Well, hours after a delicious meal and several rounds of drinks (“internal libations” for ancestors and selves) we were still battling it out when I began to hear a favorite jazz tune in my head—”Body and Soul”—and my mind and slurring lips blurted out “BEADS, Body and Soul!” Doran fell silent and conceded defeat, but not before claiming the post-colon “Art and Light in the Yorùbá Universe.” The title was born, and the work underway.In preparing this tribute to Doran, I excavated my archives and unearthed an old carboard box labeled “BB&S—notes, drafts, cassette tapes, photos, slides, articles, letters, applications, etc.”, filled with xeroxes of many articles on Yorùbá art, history and culture, and some photographs of bead artistry from ancient sites at Ilé-Ifẹ, a repertoire of royal beaded arts for queens and kings (Fig. 1), beads and cowries for the instruments (clubs, staff, and flute) of the divine mediator who guards the cosmic crossroads, Èọù-Elẹgbà (Fig. 2), contemporary bead paintings of Jímọh Bùraímọh, the beaded computer mother boards of Olábáyò Oláníyì, and the elaborately beaded cloth ensembles that celebrate ancestors. I also found copies of our grant submissions. One to the Getty was unsuccessful, but another to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) that used our curatorial writing was ultimately shaped into a masterful Fowler application by Doran—and this one was successful!Doran and I began building an object list by combing through the impressive collections of Yorùbá beadwork at the Fowler, and then reached out to collectors and institutions far and wide. He was relentless in searching for outstanding examples from dealers and collectors, amassing an extensive array of objects to show the depth, richness, and diversity of Yorùbá beadwork. Recognizing the global presence of Yorùbá descendants, their òrìọà faith and sacred arts, we knew that the Yorùbá diaspora would be an important part of the project. The invitation to my “brother from another mother,” John Mason, gave us his vast network of òrìọà followers, many of whom are bead artists. With this expansive inclusiveness, Doran, John, and I also wanted to commission contemporary Yorùbá diaspora bead artists to bless the show with their work. We invited James Norman and Valerie Mason to create beaded ritual forms (bracelets and fans) and chose Manuel Vega and José Rodriguez for major commissions. Rodriguez's fabulous beaded Ọbàtálá crown (Fig. 3) graces the cover of the book that accompanied the exhibition (and it is still on view in the Fowler's longterm exhibition, Intersections: World Arts, Local Lives), and Vega created an elaborate beaded leather hunter's hat/crown to honor òrìṣà Òṣóòsì.Working with these devoted Yorùbá òrìṣà followers of a religion that came to them through Cuba, where the Yorùbá are known as Lukumí and their religion as Regla de Ocha (òrìṣà), or via the Brazilian strand known as Candomblé Nàgó, we wanted to highlight the sacredness of this beading tradition—a tradition whose colors lit the Yorùbá universe as expressed in Doran's part of the title, Art and Light in the Yorùbá Universe. Focusing on these sacred beaded arts and inspired by altar images and conversations with participating Yorùbá diaspora artists, David Mayo designed installations that evoked the altars or “thrones” for the òrìṣà: one for Òṣsun, the goddess of sweet water, the “gushing spring” and source, filled with rich golden-copper cloth and beaded fans (Fig. 4); another for Yẹmọja, goddess of the salt waters of the oceans with deep aqua-blues; the greenery of hunter Òṣóòsì's forest; the cool whites of Ọbátálá's composure and wisdom (Fig. 5); and, in contrast, the fiery reds of the Thundergod Ṣàngó. During the run of the show in several venues, people came to enjoy the art as well as to leave offerings at these thrones (art, money, flowers, foods, perfumes, etc.) to honor the gods—acts of devotion, admiration, honor, and respect that Doran, John, and I valued more than any art critics’ review.Maybe it was the memory of this title-battle that stayed with Doran, because many years later, after he had retired and the co-curators (Tom Joyce, Marla C. Berns, Allen F. Roberts, William J. Dewey, and me) were putting together the exhibition and publication for Striking Iron (hey Doran, my title!), he sent all of us on the curatorial team this message and a long list of possible titles, making mischievous fun of our exhibition:POTENTIAL MYTHO-POETIC TITLES FOR FOWLER IRON EXHIBITION Please feel free to choose any one of the following. I will use the next ten best as chapter headers in my forthcoming animated musical 3-D documentary feature film on the making of the exhibition. The film is scheduled to premiere at Valley Forge.Doran was himself a mythopoetic being—full of fun, yet deadly serious about the depth and richness of all his many projects, making them the very best they could be. He was in many ways “larger than life”—an apt image for someone who had a special affinity for that larger-than-life creature, the elephant. His exhibition Elephant: The Animal and its Ivory in African Culture, and the weighty tome that accompanied it, were marvelous contributions to our field. I sorely miss the wit and heart, the light, and laughter that Doran Ross brought to our world.