JIM CRANE, ANOTHER CLOSE FACULTY FRIEND

     When I moved to Eckerd College (formerly Florida Presbyterian) in St. Petersburg, FL, Jim Crane soon became my best friend among the faculty. I had met Jim earlier on at the Danforth Conference in Michigan where we both had been invited as guests. I was on my way to Duke to complete my doctoral studies and Jim was a special speaker for the conference. We hit it off right away and he told me all about Florida Presbyterian and suggested that I would really like it there. As it turned out, Jim was instrumental in getting me hired there a year later.

            Jim’s role at the conference was to share and explain his special talent as a cartoonist, which he had displayed in a recent book of cartoons dealing primarily with ideas and events that make their way around college campuses. He also dipped into current politics and religion as well. Jim was very low keyed in his approach, and I liked him very much for that. He often published his cartoons in a Methodist magazine titled “Motive” and he shared how some of these had come about. He had some funny stories to tell as well about the cartoonist life, and he made it very clear that his main artistic efforts were directed at creating more traditional visual art works.

             One night we all went down to a local tavern for a social time, and I had brought Jim’s latest book to show around. One of the locals caught wind of this endeavor and became excited by the fact that a published author was amongst us. He called everyone’s attention to Jim and announced that we had a published author in our midst. Holding Jim’s book up for all to see he misread its cover and exclaimed that the author’s name was “John Knox”, which was actually the name of the company that had published Jim’s book. When he called out the name “John Knox” everyone stood and cheered loudly. Jim, not missing a step, thanked everyone and hoisted another beer. None of the locals ever knew that Jim’s name was not John Knox. A good time was had by all.  

            At the college Jim and I worked closely together to help guide the newly formed “Creative Arts Collegium” into being and as a reality. And, after I had spent a year studying the arts on my Sabbatical, we even taught a couple of courses together. After I shared the results of my Sabbatical year, primarily studying sculpture, in a college wide lecture, referring to my sculptures, Jim said “You could make a living as an artist.” This was the most surprising yet meaningful thing anyone has ever said to me about my sculpting efforts. Although I have never tried to go professional, I have continued to work with stone over the years, at least partly due to Jim’s encouragement.

            Years later after I had left Eckerd College, Jim, and his new bride-to-be Heidi, asked me to officiate at their wedding. I, of course, was highly honored to do so, and Mari and I had a wonderful time participating in a fresh beginning for both Jim and Heidi.  We combined our return to Florida with a camping trip in the Keys and spent some lovely time with the newly married couple in their new home. As a “payment” for officiating at their wedding, Jim presented me with one of his paintings highlighting a technique he had developed blowing acrylic paints across a glass surface. We still have this beautiful painting hanging in our guestroom. I think of Jim often when I see the painting there on the wall.

            Jim saw me through some very difficult times when my second marriage was breaking up, and I saw him through similar times when his first marriage went sour. I have often recalled cool remark when replying to Heidi’s remark when we all were sitting around the swimming pool. She said something complimentary about my tan and said that I should “Show it off more.” Jim said, simply, “When you’ve got it, you don’t need to show it off.” It struck me that that remark fits Jim’s person to a T. He always “had” it, so he never needed to “show it off.” Jim was loved and respected deeply by all who knew him.                  

IN AND OUT OF ENGLAND (More travels with Jerry)

            My first trip abroad was made when I went to Oxford University to study with Professor Ian Ramsey at Oriel College. I had just finished my dissertation on his thought at Duke and was eager to see him again and to find out what he thought of my dissertation. Professor Ramsey had arranged lodgings for me and my family in Oxford and it promised to be a wonderful ten-week interval. My wife and son and I flew on Icelandic Air, first to Iceland, and then on to London – it was my first international flight, and it was very exciting. We were met at the airport by our longtime friends from Westmont days Russ and Sue Carr who were living and teaching in England at the time.

            We travelled around in Southern England a bit with the Carrs and then I got to explore the University, which every bit lived up to its reputation of prestige and peculiarity. I visited famous Blackwell’s Bookstore, bought some books, maps, etc. and roamed around the small city. The Bodleian Library and various colleges, all nestled together within a square half a mile, were of course, impressive and very old. Then there was the Radcliff Library and the Concert Hall, as well as the Thames River wandering throughout the city. Oxford itself, unlike Cambridge, was a busy, bustling city. We bought our son a suit for the school he would attend, and I purchased a good map, along with a class schedule and college locations.

            It was, quite frankly, all very “heady” to actually be in Oxford and attending lectures. The lectures I attended by several famous lecturers, which all sounded interesting, were all “optional” for the students. I attended Peter Strawson’s class and signed up for Gilbert Ryle’s Seminar., which was held in the early evening. It was all very stiff and quiet. Strawson lectured staring at the back wall and Ryle’s seminar started out with over 50 people and soon dwindled to about a dozen of us. It was the Oxford student custom to attend many classes at the beginning of the term and drop most of them within a few weeks. There was no enrollment in classes as there is here in the States. I volunteered to be one of the students who offered papers in class, and it went well. Later on, Professor Ryle, the editor of the famous journal Mind, agreed to publish my paper in that journal. I was, of course, absolutely thrilled that he would, and eventually did, do so.

            I also met with Professor Ramsey on a weekly basis to go over my Duke dissertation. As it turned out, he liked it very much and only had a few suggestions to make, and I was able to ship it off to Professor Poteat to distribute to readers back at Duke. Walking the streets of Oxford, participating in classes, and imbibing the atmosphere of Oxford, was almost more than I could drink in. Professor Ramsey and his wife Margaret showed us around a bit, taking us to the crew races on the Thames and to Churchill castle and estate just outside of Oxford. We also made a couple of trips to London to enjoy the culture and night life there.

            We took our regular meals at the Derbyshire House where we lived on the edge of the city, and I rode a bicycle to classes. I ate my lunches in various pubs around the city. I did make a couple of student friends at the University and even met Bill Bradley, the All-American basketball player who was spending his Rhodes Scholar year at Oxford. Frankly, I was quite surprised when we met walking along a narrow street and he not only remembered me but said “Hi Jer” as we passed. One evening Professor Ramsey took me to dinner at his college, Oriel, dining hall and introduced me to his faculty colleagues. It was wonderful and a great pleasure to get to know him and work with him in his weekly seminar as well.

            A few years later, when leading some college students on a Semester in London program, I got to visit with Ian, who had then become Bishop of Durham, several times yet again before his untimely death of a heart attack. I went with his widow, Margaret, to the funeral service held in St. Margaret’s Chapel next to Westminster Cathedral. It was rumored that Ian was scheduled to become the next Archbishop of Canterberry. While in London at this particular time I was able to interest a local editor in publishing my dissertation on Ian’s thought as a book. It is entitled: “Ian Ramsey: To Speak Responsibly of God”. My second son was subsequently named Ian in honor of my good friend the Bishop.

            I returned to spend significant time in England again on several occasions as the Professor in charge of the Eckerd College Semester Abroad Program. I taught the regular interdisciplinary required course to the whole group of 30 students. Since England was then beginning its recession from a world leadership role we focused on theme “The Shrinking of An Empire” after a book by that title. I also taught a course in Ancient Philosophy to a small group of students. Mostly I was simply in charge of the whole semester enterprise, making sure that the living in the college’s newly leased house on Gower Street right across from the University of London and near the British Museum. The West End.

            We made a number of tours to historic places around England, such as the British Museum, Stonehenge, and Stratford on Avon, taking in a couple of Shakespear plays, along with a several visits to the theaters. We also visited the work space of several current important British artists, and art galleries. Most of us also spent ample time in near bye pubs and movie theaters. Many of the students were art majors so arrangements had been made for a couple of courses taught by local British artists. We had a competent and delightful cook and house manager named Mrs. Parsons. The next year the college actually arranged for her to visit the States and our school in Florida. She was a delightful and competent person. It was a truly amazing time for both the students and myself.

             As it turned out I also got to lead a couple of Winter Term courses for our college in England focusing on current British philosophical and theological issues. I arranged for them to visit both Oxford and Cambridge University classes led by well-known scholars. At Cambridge we actually sat in on a class of Elizabeth Anscomb, one of the translators of Ludwig Wittgenstein’s later works. It was a small class, but she never even noticed that she had a guest group of a dozen students. She just went on talking, mostly to the place where the back wall and ceiling met. As is well known, British academics are a very strange lot.

            While in England I also made a quick trip, as the Brits would put it, by “motor car”, to Aberystwyth out on the extreme west coast of Wales. This is the place where the Prince of Wales goes to university. It was a cold and windy place visit, but I wanted to see as much of the extreme ends of Britain as I could. I had already visited Scotland, both coastlines and the far north, just beyond Edinburgh. I loved living in England very much, and have visited it several times since those days. A couple of my former students have actually moved there because they find it so delightful and sane.

            Years later Mari and I traveled through England in a Volkswagen camper and had a wonderful time. After traveling around in the north, we camped outside of London and did some sights from there. We saw a wonderful musical at the New Vick and revisited the great old sights around Westminster, the London Tower, and Big Ben. Mostly we enjoyed the quiet countryside of the campgrounds, and the company of the other campers. I forgot to mention that we started out in Scotland having crossed from Belgium on a ferry. It was strange and interesting to see England “in reverse” so to speak, from the north down to the south. Still great!!