Paulette and I first met at Elliot's Ph.D. (and going-away) party in the spring of 1977. Elliot was an applied mathematician, born and raised Jewish; his wife Kathy came from a Catholic background. Neither was very devout; both were outrageously funny people. I still remember how, when we were visiting them a few years later, Kathy explained what their respective heritages meant to them: "His parents taught him guilt; my parents taught me shame!"

(Or do I have that backwards? I'm ashamed (and feel guilty) to admit that I'm not sure...)

TopicPersonalHistory - 2002-06-30

(correlates: Joan Benoit Samuelson on the Marathon, MercifulSchadenfreude, MyValentine2004, ...)