In William Alfred’s unfinished autobiography he wrote, “Lillian Hellman used to say that I loved people as compulsively as dog-lovers did dogs. She was right. My students intrigued as much as delighted me. I held open office hours night and day…After nine-thirty each night, I served coffee to whoever came and talked them deaf, dumb, and blind on every subject from Stevens’ ‘Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction’ to the latest ups and downs in classroom romance. One night I particularly remember a boy and a girl came so on the outs they talked to each other only through me. When I asked what was the matter, the girl said, ‘I got an A-minus and he got a B-plus.’ I offered them sticky buns for Otto’s; and thank Heaven, they smiled and made up.”
Does anyone have memories of Alfred teaching at Harvard that they would like to share?
