Kudos to Ron Grossman for his bittersweet article on professor Karl Weintraub (“Handing down a passion for Western thought,” Perspective, June 2). Forty years ago, I was one of the eager undergraduates fortunate enough to have a seat in his section of the mind-expanding adventure the University of Chicago offered called “History of Western Civilization.”
I was even lucky enough to audit Christian Mackauer’s classes (seated or standing) after attending the sections to which I had been assigned.
So Weintraub’s younger colleagues have served their time and have tenure. They sound like technocrats who have learned a trade and wish to offer it instead of an education to the undergraduates who will now come under their sway instead of the dwindling group of Weintraubs of the world.
This former terrified and now somewhat enlightened University of Chicago graduate thanks with all of my mind and heart Karl Weintraub and his like-minded colleagues for their relentless questions, comments and “No, no, no, no!”
