“I was always a little more cynical about what he had to say. I mean it’s maybe my nature, and also probably not as bright as those other guys too. But I’m basically cynical about hero worship. I mean, it’s something I find personally uncomfortable and I found it uncomfortable in my friends. In other words, I’m almost being too honest here. It’s just not something constitutionally, emotionally, I’m capable of.

I think he was a deeply spiritual fellow in his own way–there was almost a mysticism about him. This was not a guy puttin’ a show on for the road. But he was a bit of a celebrity. He wasn’t above that, you know? I mean, the attention and the commitment that he got from students, I don’t think he minded that at all.

–Ara Asadourian '60