“I think what people love about Gaudino, you know, people love themselves, and thus they mostly loved Gaudino because he asked you questions about yourself, which is very different than suggesting who you should be or whatever. He reminds me of Mahatma Gandhi in terms of how we read about him, because when Gaudino was in the room he filled the room with his bubble head and his questions again, which enthralled others because they were about them rather than about him. So the analogy comes that when Gandhi left the room nobody could quite remember why he was so important when he was in the room. So his charisma was his presence but what I always found fascinating about Gaudino was that Gaudino’s charisma was rooted in his sponsoring the ego of others rather than his own point of view or his own ego and that’s why people–like your project and everything–I always find it fascinating that people all want to adopt Gaudino as their own. And it’s slightly absurd because he was there just asking questions about other people but everybody wants to own this guy, like they want to own Gandhi. And he was just a great stimulus, intellectually, philosophically, personally, but he couldn’t be owned. He’s just out there.

–Bill Loomis '71