Comments on: Alfred Arteaga (1950-2008) http://latinolikeme.wordpress.com/2008/07/14/alfred-arteaga-1950-2008/ Sun, 15 Nov 2009 05:55:01 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Mireya http://latinolikeme.wordpress.com/2008/07/14/alfred-arteaga-1950-2008/#comment-224 Mireya Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:23:10 +0000 http://latinolikeme.wordpress.com/?p=204#comment-224 Thank you for remembering my dad, reading these descriptions about him remind me how many friends he made over his lifetime. Thank you for remembering my dad, reading these descriptions about him remind me how many friends he made over his lifetime.

]]> By: Steven http://latinolikeme.wordpress.com/2008/07/14/alfred-arteaga-1950-2008/#comment-219 Steven Mon, 14 Jul 2008 05:40:52 +0000 http://latinolikeme.wordpress.com/?p=204#comment-219 Alfred was a beautiful person. I'm not sure this will quite get to the root of that, but I'll try. I don't know how our generation of academics will turn out, but Alfred's generation at Berkeley (and it seems funny to say that, he was only three years older than I am, but I got a late start), even the best of them, they were good mentors and fine scholars, but there was often an invisible barrier between them and us. Not with Alfred ... wherever he was, he was "with" the people. Let me put it this way, and anyone who has ever had to write an acknowledgments page will know what I mean. For my dissertation, I thanked the people on my committee, I thanked my friends in my diss group, I thanked the woman who first got me started writing ... heck, I even thanked the Human Relations Supervisor who convinced me to leave the factory after ten years. I finished off by thanking the various scholars who had helped me when they didn't need to ... people like Mike Rogin and Julian Boyd. But there were two professors I mentioned who I thought of as a kind of pair, although for all I know they never met. Francine Masiello was simply the best professor I ever had, and the best mentor who ever came from outside my program and still kept an eye on me. The other person was Alfred. Because whenever he was around, I felt like there might be a place for me, too. We didn't study the same things, I never took a class from him, never worked with him. But he was an icon to me, he always had time, he was always willing to take the extra step ... and yes, he was at times a bit of a pain in the ass to UC, which of course made me love him all the more. He will be missed. Alfred was a beautiful person. I’m not sure this will quite get to the root of that, but I’ll try. I don’t know how our generation of academics will turn out, but Alfred’s generation at Berkeley (and it seems funny to say that, he was only three years older than I am, but I got a late start), even the best of them, they were good mentors and fine scholars, but there was often an invisible barrier between them and us. Not with Alfred … wherever he was, he was “with” the people.

Let me put it this way, and anyone who has ever had to write an acknowledgments page will know what I mean. For my dissertation, I thanked the people on my committee, I thanked my friends in my diss group, I thanked the woman who first got me started writing … heck, I even thanked the Human Relations Supervisor who convinced me to leave the factory after ten years.

I finished off by thanking the various scholars who had helped me when they didn’t need to … people like Mike Rogin and Julian Boyd. But there were two professors I mentioned who I thought of as a kind of pair, although for all I know they never met. Francine Masiello was simply the best professor I ever had, and the best mentor who ever came from outside my program and still kept an eye on me.

The other person was Alfred. Because whenever he was around, I felt like there might be a place for me, too. We didn’t study the same things, I never took a class from him, never worked with him. But he was an icon to me, he always had time, he was always willing to take the extra step … and yes, he was at times a bit of a pain in the ass to UC, which of course made me love him all the more. He will be missed.

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