Reminiscences of Stan, Friend and Colleague

Stan and I were fellow graduate students at the University of Wisconsin. I believe we first met in '65, but certainly by '66 we were fast friends. Stan was virtually a member of the family, visiting our home often and delighting in the linguistic and other development of my first son, Hugh, born 3/9/65. When the Department of Indian Studies needed warm bodies to justify National Defense dollars they were receiving to teach Oriya, Stan and I were tapped to populate the class. We also took some linguistics classes together, and shared many jokes about the seriousness of the proponents of the generative school. We traveled once to hear Chomsky speak at the University of Chicago.

Like me, Stan came from working class stock, so he felt comfortable in inviting my wife Rachel and I to spend a weekend with his folks in Walkeshaw, WI. Stan was often at our Madison apartment to share a meal, and just to strengthen the bonds of friendship. When my second son, Jeff, was born (3/26/67), it was Stan who drove my wife to the hospital (I am not allowed to drive). I was a member of a bluegrass band then, and Stan often attended our gigs at a local watering hole.

When I got my first teaching job at the University of Missouri, it was Stan who offered to drive the U-Haul truck down for us.

Stan ended up at Hawaii, but even this did not curtail our friendship. I attended conferences there on occasion, and stopped at Honolulu on my way to and from the University of the South Pacific in Fiji (1975-78). Most of those times I stayed with Stan and Lily. When we both would attend the same conference, we would room together. A couple of times Stan invited me to address one of his classes on one topic or another. He would always tell me that they were more attentive to me than they were to him. I was introduced to his colleagues in the Department, and we would discuss lexicase and other professional matters, but more of the time we shared personal matters - things discussed only with close friends. He told me that having someone he could ventilate to helped dispel and minimize his frustrations.

When I started making recordings again, Stan was an eager consumer. He listened eagerly to my Pickin'-Singin' Professor CD, and summoned friends to hear it. Friends like Stan are few in a lifetime, and their scarcity makes them all the more precious. I know that others feel the same about this genuine and sincerely humble man. He had an uncanny ability to find the humor in all things. I'll never forget that hearty laugh, and always remember the million laughs we shared together.

Rodney Moag