I thought I’d seen everything in academia…until I met Peter. Wow!, where was this rare-gem-of-a-man, the “Beautiful American,” hiding all these years? Selfishly welcoming the fact that I entered this very special person’s intellectual chamber I was set on a new course: to strive beyond being rigorous and to become brilliant. For Peter, being brilliant was no effort. Here was a nova of charm and intellect burned so bright and generously. And so, since the day-to-day pressures of the campus is left behind for both of us, I am thinking we are embarking on a long and joyous intellectual journey—that is cut off when the e-mail that was supposed to arrive from Peter arrives from elsewhere. With a hole in my heart, I am trying to come to terms with his sudden absence and to recover the purpose that Peter inspired in me.

Gökhan Ersan