Students,
It is with great sadness that I tell you that my brother, Joel, passed away last night. I was with him, by his side. The funeral is tomorrow in Pennsylvania and I will have family near me.
That’s us. He is on the left. It was his birthday, but he let me cut the cake.
I want to use this as a teaching moment, in part to inspire you, but also because what I have to say is fact, and not the stuff of dreams or ambition:
Writing can and does change the world. When we are all gone, we can be assured that what we write will outlive us.
I know this because my brother wrote for a living. I know this because he would write to me, and I would write back — from a very young age. I probably learned to write my first words because of him. I didn’t want to rely on our mom to write for me. I wanted to be big, grown up.
Back then we wrote by hand or by typewriter. We put a stamp on the envelope, and then we waited for a reply.
His paragraphs were well formed. His revisions, clear. He never talked “down” to me as a little kid. I will show you:
He makes good writing look easy — and it isn’t; but I think the effort is worth the result. When I read him back then, for a moment I could forget that there was a long distance between us (we always lived far away). I forgot I was “reading” and he was “writing.” It’s like the page wasn’t there. We collapsed time and space.
Oh yeah, writing can do that, too.
Like the letter says, the same goes for all of us: “Now, it’s [our] turn to write.”
-Prof. S.
Wow, it was really inspirational what he wrote and I’m really sorry for what had happen to you… I’m lost for words and just hope everything is fine with you and your family. May he rest in peace~
Sending you & your family healing energy through this time. Take all the time you need Prof.
appreciate it, Denver
a lot
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Sorry to hear this professor. I hope you and your family are doing well. Thank you for the images, especially the old letter, they were nice!
I feel you, I just lost my grandma she passed away last week. so, I know how it feels when you lost someone who used to be with you every time. sorry for you hopefully you and your family can recover from this saddest moment .
Sorry to hear that Professor. I also thank you for guiding me when I was down. Sometimes life is dramatic. Two days after you enlightened me, my mom got Covid-19, and then she passed it on to me. This period between me and my mother happened to be a time when your brother was unfortunate. Now I feel a lot better, but my mom hasn’t recovered because she wasn’t fully vaccinated. I hope that during this period, we can work together to get through this difficult time. Thank you again for comforting me. I also hope that I can help you as much as I can.
Firstly, I’d like to offer and extend my condolences to you and your family, I imagine it is a difficult time. I also admire your ability to be able to turn anything into a teaching experience and I appreciate you going out of your way during a time of unimaginable grief to post for us. Thank you.
How sensitive you are to write, Raj.
With appreciation and gratitude,
-Prof. S.
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