I had had the pleasure of meeting Brown professor and dean Bruce Donovan socially on a few occasions before arriving on College Hill ("Humanity and Humor," Obituaries, September/October). At the first classics course I took with him, he obviously recognized me, and greeted me with his usual effusive and debonair charm. Later in that first class, while we all worked on a translation exercise, he strolled between our desks. Stopping at mine, he leafed casually through the textbook lying there then offhandedly inquired, "If you had your name in your book, what would it be?" He wrapped tact, humor, and self-effacing geniality all in one bow-tied package.

Celia Hartmann '78
New York City