My Nutty Professor

[This is actually a re-posting from a different
list I contribute to on a fairly regular basis...]

One of the geography professors here died of a heart attack on Thursday,
November 20, 2003.  He was one of the 'foundations' here at work.  He was one of
those profs that had the university almost literally built around him in his
office in what we call "the Motel."  The Motel reminds me of my old elementary
school.  It has that moldy/mildewy smell and creaky feel to it that reminds me
of the milk and cookies I got one time at the principal's office when I was
brought in after a doctor's appointment.  It's an old building that felt like
home.

He was in that building for close to 25 years and for at least 18 of those years
has waited semi-patiently for it to be torn down.  The government finally, after
12 agonizing years, okayed it's replacement to go up in 2005.  He said, "When
the ball hits this building, I'm popping the champagne to celebrate my
retirement."  One of the poli sci profs lamented with him that the Motel would
outlive them both.  He's half right.

He was an unexciting professor, to say the least.  I took two courses with him
and although my marks were good, I dreaded those courses.  There was one segment
of them that grabbed me though and to this day, I still use the techniques I
learned in that segment whenever I travel (it was a field study course, after
all).  I remember the bus trips, when he would grab the microphone to talk to
the class while we headed... wherever we were headed.  I'd be sitting in the
back of the bus and my friend "H" would be about halfway up.  He always blew
into the mic to make sure it was working and I'd bug "H" because her head would
bob almost immediately as she dozed off.  Me, I had my earphones on and he would
ask, "Can you hear me?  Can you hear me in the back?"  I'd give him the thumbs
up and turn the volume up as far as it would go.  I never listened to one of his 
lectures on the bus.  Ever.

But there's another story about him that not too many people know.  He was in
love with "H" and "H" with him.  He was married at the time and so was "H".  In
fact, he waited for "H" to get a divorce --as he had-- in order for them to be
together.  But "H" remained married to her husband and waited for her sons to
finish school.  In 1994, he remarried, but "H" remained near him when he set up
his own research office.  She was his assistant.  This year, she finally
divorced her husband.  He also divorced his second wife.  They were going to get
married in 2004.  He'd even bought the ring.  "H" found the ring over the
weekend.  

He and "H" also introduced my wife & I.  My wife was a geography student and I,
history.  "H" always told him if he did nothing else, he got to see people fall
in love.  And he did.  Twice.

They were just leaving on Thursday to do some Christmas shopping when "H"
thought he was making fun of her.  But when she turned to look at him, he was
already turning gray.  He died instantly of a massive heart attack.

"H" has lost the only man in 15 years she's really loved.  She got to be with
him for 9 months and a lifetime to remember the time they spent together.