Thursday, February 23, 2012
To the French family: I am so very sorry for your loss. I met Dr. French when I was a freshman at WVU in 1968. He was an incredibly nice man. I was an English major and took every possible class he taught. His love of Shakespeare was so contagious. He had the most unique teaching style - he would act out many scenes, standing on his desk, on chairs, running around the room, changing positions. He brought Shakespeare to life for his students who, like me, had never been introduced to Shakespeare like Dr. French introduced us. More than being just the absolute best professor I ever had, I found him to be a warm and friendly person. Many professors were unapproachable once class was over. Not Dr. French. No matter where I saw him, he would always stop and chat and always had a smile on his face. When I returned to Morgantown years later, I was thrilled to run into him at Giant Eagle of all places. I would never expect him to remember me - I was not as memorable to him as he was to me, but he acted like he did remember me and we had a nice talk - I had my 2 young children with me and he engaged them in conversation. Some people may have a tendency to semi-ignore children while talking to another adult. Dr. French spoke to them as if he was so pleased to meet them. He hadn't changed one bit from the wonderful professor I knew him to be. As we walked out of the store, my son, who was 8 at the time, said "he's a heckuva nice guy" - I couldn't have said it better myself. I join you in mourning his passing, but am so grateful he was part of my college life. May God Bless you as you begin this difficult journey without him. If Heaven is what we believe it to be, I can see Dr. French engaging William Shakespeare right now, questioning his interpretation of a certain scene. What a conversation that would be. Peace Be With You!
