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Professors Most Noble
ROBERT OBOJSKI
Fifty years ago, on February 2, 1951, I graduated from Adelbert College. It was a bitterly cold day, some five degrees below zero. |
| Since I didn’t have a car at the time, I took a couple of buses from my home in suburban Parma, Ohio, to Severance Hall. That was a proud moment in my life, but, at that point, my career as a Western Reserve University student was barely half over. I remained on the campus for another four years, earning a master of arts degree in English (1952) and a doctorate in American studies (1955).  I’ve had a lot of good years since departing the WRU campus. Yet those seven years remain as the peak period of me. The professors I had during my time at WRU have had a lifelong impact on my life as I developed into a teacher and writer. The faculty constitutes the most important element of any institution of higher education, more important than the bricks and mortar (though we don’t wish to denigrate the construction and beautiful buildings that dot the CWRU campus). And I certainly remember many of those great professors, especially between the years of 1947 and 1955. My classmates and I knew many of them well, because, in some cases, we took most or all of their courses from the undergraduate through the graduate levels. To sing all of their virtues properly would require a book-length monograph.Let me recall a few of the professors who had a great impact on my life. The list reads like a Who’s Who of WRU academia: Lyon N. “Rich” Richardson, professor of English, director of the University Library, and chair of the Department of American Culture. He sponsored my doctoral dissertation. He was a stickler for detail and a tough editor. In the early 1950s, Mickey Spillane, the murder mystery writer, was all the rage on campus with his popular novels about detective Mike Hammer. I was curious to get “Rich’s” opinion of Mr. Spillane as a writer and gave him a copy of I, the Jury to read. He threw the paperback into his briefcase. A few days later, I asked for his impressions of the book. “Spillane is a lousy writer,” snapped Dr. Richardson. “I fell asleep after the sixth murder.” Donald Grove Barnes, professor and chair of the history department. His forte was English history, and, after taking some of his courses, many of us concluded, “If there is something about English history that Dr. Barnes doesn’t know, it probably isn’t worth knowing.” Finlay Melville Kendall Foster, professor and chair of the English department. He made eighteenth-century England come alive. He was totally dedicated to the profession. His favorite course was called Samuel Johnson and his Circle. He grew so intellectually attached to Dr. Johnson, he seemed to know the great lexicographer, often calling him “Sam.” I’ll never forget graduation day when I received the master of arts in English. Dr. Foster sat in the front row with the rest of the faculty, and, as I climbed down from the stage, he said, “Nice going, Obojski.” There are some things in life you never forget. The education I received from WRU professors still lives with me. I’ve kept all my term papers, most of my final exam blue books, and just about all of my textbooks, and have used them continuously as both a teacher and writer. Teaching is a noble profession. As far as I’m concerned, nobody could do it better in the classroom than the Western Reserve University faculty.  Robert Obojski spent nearly twenty years as a professor of English and history at five Eastern community and technical colleges. A prolific writer who still prepares copy with a manual typewriter, he has had more than a dozen books published on his favorite sport, baseball. His recent book is Baseball’s Zaniest Moments (1999, Sterling Publishing Company). He lives in Port Washington, New York. |
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