Letters: November 19, 1997


Celebrity professors
In his "musings" on Princeton life (paw, October 22), John Fleming *63 assures us that the "venomous things" he says about me and other semi-anonymous "celebrity professors"-"I mention no names, but you know who I mean"-is not motivated by "vulgar jealousy." Maybe not, although judging by the general level of his "musings," we can rule out the nonvulgar kind. Certainly, he has no knowledge of what I actually do. Contrary to Professor Fleming, I have never been to Mikhail Gorbachev's dacha, only to the reception office of the Gorbachev Foundation for interviews related to my research on the Soviet past-though I do know, again contrary to Professor Fleming, that the former president's dacha has not yet been "repossessed."

Nor can I really be one of those "famous colleagues" whom he imagines to be persecuting him for his "obscurantist vocation"-faculty members, he says, "who seek the meaning of life in the quintessence of the here and now" and who believe that "to concern oneself with things that happened earlier than the day before yesterday is to exhibit a lack of intellectual hip." In reality, I've never had any reason or opportunity to give Professor Fleming "grief"; my own scholarship has always been largely about history, not "the here and now"; I know nothing about him or his re-search. I assume that unlike what he has written about his Princeton colleagues, Professor Fleming does a bit of fact-checking before passing judgment on his monks and nuns. On the other hand, it is odd, unless he confuses the word with obscure, that he characterizes his own work as "obscurantist."

Publishing "these venomous things" in The Daily Princetonian for the titillation of students may have seemed "hip" to Professor Fleming. (Or are innuendoes such as "you know who I mean" a medieval teaching device?) It's harder to understand why the Princeton Alumni Weekly reprinted them.

Stephen F. Cohen

Professor, Department of Politics

Princeton, N.J.

Mount Princeton
Your October 8 cover story on the Mount Princeton climb was complete and entertaining, and the photos were superb. As our class approaches its 50th reunion, it would be appropriate to record that Pinkie Noland '48 made it to the summit, resplendent in reunion jacket and cap (below). It should be noted, as well, that Pinkie has not lost his genius in picking comely lasses (Skye Deland-Nuttall '96 and Anne Dixon '96) to do the heavy lifting in getting the 1948 banner to the top.

David Reeves '48

Princeton, N.J.

The day after we climbed Mount Princeton I was in Beaver Creek, Colorado, with a member of the Harvard class of 1955. He said that about 20 years ago some Harvard alumni organized a Mount Harvard climb. He was asked to join them, but was unable to do so. Following an arduous ascent, they returned to the foot of the mountain to relax at a spa, only to find out that they had climbed Mount Princeton! Some Harvard guys get confused when they go outside.

Linwood L. Davis '62

Winston-Salem, N.C.

Thanks for setting the record straight about Dave Irving '58 hiking all the way from the base of the mountain to the summit (Letters, November 5). His fellow climbers Hank Doll '58, Chuck Crick '59, and I also left from the base, and parted only near the top, when Dave left us in an awesome spurt of energy. As geezers, we were pleased with our performance. If I'm not mistaken, Joe Woods '57 and two or three of his classmates were the oldest alumni to reach the summit without driving up the jeep trail before starting their climb.

Jim Proctor '59

Bethesda, Md.


paw@princeton.edu