This paper is dedicated, with great admiration and affection, to a giant of modern science, Ion Baciu. More than a half-century ago, he began to experimentally explore the influence of the central nervous system on the peripheral vascular system including the mysteriously complex actions of phagocytosis and erythropoiesis. To this day, he has never stopped! Other great scientists, in many countries, examining neuro-endocrine-immune interactions (NIM), came and went: Ion Baciu is still at it, all the while writing high-quality textbooks, directing a great research institute, training several generations of young scientists and physicians, publishing many first-rate research reports (in several languages) in diverse scientific journals, working often under very difficult circumstances with inadequate financial resources, and never uttering one word of complaint. This is indeed a most exceptional scientist and an exemplary human being who has set high standards that few will ever equal.