Carrie and I did.
And he came.
But to be fair, Les Anderson was more than a professor. Much more.
While neither Carrie nor I would have ever gotten a chance to know Les if we wouldn't have signed up for his Editing for Print class nearly 15 years ago, we were like many others who sat in one of Les' classes during his 35-year tenure at Wichita State who saw their relationship with Les transition from student to lifelong friend and are forever grateful. Looking back, I'm sure the 20 year-old versions of Carrie and Craig who entered Les' class years ago would be surprised by our feelings today for the man who gave us a current events quiz on the first day of class and then graded it on a 95 to 100 scale, but that's the amazing thing about Les, at times he could make your life as hard as hell, but you couldn't help but like him.
Les was a journalism guy, Carrie and I were advertising people, which meant our relationship with Les should have ended when we walked out of his class for the last time. It should have, but It didn't. During my last semester when he found out I was having trouble landing a job, he pulled me into the office and started circling names in the phone book of people he knew that I should contact and use him as a reference. One of those calls led to my first job and Carrie got her first job at an agency ran by one of his closest friends.
After we both got into the real world, our connections to Les continued. We were both regularly invited to speak to his classes, judge competitions and show our work to students, which we gladly did, not only because the appearance often came with a free lunch, but because it was a small way to pay Les back for all of the help he'd given us. Recently Carrie's relationship with Les morphed into one of colleagues through their mutual work with the Symphony in the Flint Hills. She loves working with the Symphony, but the fact that she regularly got to attend meetings and social events with Les was just icing on the cake. Being on campus also gave me a chance to see Les on a regular basis and as recently as a month ago I spent about half an hour talking to him in his office where, with a big smile on his face, he asked me things like, "how's the pup?" (referring to Park) making me feel like one of his closest friends—even though I know hundreds, if not thousands, of people felt the same way.
Les passed away unexpectedly last Saturday evening. We found out on the morning of my birthday and each of us took turns dissolving into tears and consoling one another. I wrote on Facebook that morning that I had never been more upset by the passing of someone who didn't share my DNA and it's still true. Just two weeks prior we had been to an event in honor of Les on campus where he was roasted and honored with an endowed fund in his name. It was a great evening full of skits and music. Les was funny and full of life. I recently heard that he described the event as like being at his own funeral. I'm just glad he got to experience first hand just how much he was loved, I'm not sure anyone could ask for much more.
In the days since his death, written tributes have popped up all over the Internet which only seems appropriate, I just hope he forgives me for the incomplete sentences and grammatical errors I'm sure he'd find in mine. I still can't believe he's gone. I can still see his face. I can still hear him telling the story about how Carrie and I both came to class in Elvis shirts from a recent trip to Graceland and knowing that we were meant to be together.
Carrie and I are two of the lucky ones who got to know Les (and were honored to be on his infamous Christmas card list). He's had a huge impact on our lives and we're going to miss him.
Here's a video tribute to Les that was shown at his roast. Enjoy.
2 comments:
Nice post, Craig.
Mike and I had Les and Nancy at our wedding too, and it never occurred to me until reading your blog that it wouldn't be normal for most people to have their professor at their wedding. :)
That's because Les was so much more than a professor.
We're going to miss him terribly.
Les and Nancy were at our wedding too. He had several other obligations to attend to that day, but they were in the pew, they walked through the line, and he gave me a big hug and that trademark smile. As Lainie posted, it never occurred to me either that having him there was anything out of the ordinary. But knowing him was extraordinary. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and memories, Craig.
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