Tuesday February 4,<\/p>\n
I learned early this\u00a0 morning that my dissertation mentor and friend Thomas Parke Hughes died yesterday afternoon at age 91 (Altzheimer’s).\u00a0 Lots of stories are coming to mind as I enter one of my life’s most sacred goodbyes.\u00a0\u00a0 I would never have found the history of technology\u00a0 if Tom and I had not met my first day of graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania.\u00a0 I didn’t even know there was such a profession and I met him by accident when I got bumped from another seminar because it was full.\u00a0 I sat in on his class because it looked interesting.\u00a0\u00a0 During that hour I met the person who would mentor me into an intellectual commitment that has defined my life.\u00a0 He and Agatha, his wife, became close friends.\u00a0 They are now both gone but the friendship endures.<\/p>\n
So I am taking liberties with today’s post in honor of this beautiful man who challenged me to look at the history of technology as my calling.\u00a0 Today, remembering, I’ve sifted stories about Tom for one that could serve as today’s post, a small memorial from me to him in the company of all the people who receive this list serve.\u00a0 It matters to tell him thanks here at UDM, the place where I have lived most of the professional life he helped inspire.<\/p>\n
john st sj<\/p>\n
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Here’s a two paragraph story about Tom and me<\/a> taken from John M. Staudenmaier, sj\u00a0 “Welcoming in a Lovely Worlld,” Leonardo da Vinci Medal Lecture Nov 4, 2011.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tuesday February 4, I learned early this\u00a0 morning that my dissertation mentor and friend Thomas Parke Hughes died yesterday afternoon at age 91 (Altzheimer’s).\u00a0 Lots of stories are coming to mind as I enter one of my life’s most sacred … Continue reading