I met someone at lunch today who grew up in Rochester, NY. I was trying to remember what my connection with Rochester is and I (mistakenly) thought that Sol Gordon went to University there[1]. I came home and searched Sol again on Google only to find that he has died!
Sol was a hero of mine. He saved my life when I was a teenager. His book When living hurts was stocked by our local library and it helped me immeasurably.
There is a memorial website at: http://www.ilasting.com/solgordon.php
One of the guest book entries there lists Sol's Rules:
The Rules
l. Never judge a day by the weather.
2. The best things in life aren’t things.
3. Tell the truth -- there’s less to remember
4. Speak softly and wear a loud shirt.
5. Loosen up. The unaimed arrow never misses.
6. He who dies with the most toys, still dies.
7. Age is relative. When you’re over the hill,
you pick up speed.
8. There are two ways to get rich -- you can make
more money, or you can require less.
9. What you look like doesn’t matter -- beauty
is internal.
10. No rain -- no rainbows.
While I don't recognise the quote, it sounds authentic to me.
Rest in peace, dear Professor. You cannot imagine how profound your impact has been.
Related links:
Tribute by friend and colleague Debra W. Haffner: http://debrahaffner.blogspot.com/2008/12/sol-gordon-rest-in-peace.html
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sheila_steele/6533058/
Papers at Syracuse University Archives [no online content]: http://archives.syr.edu/collections/faculty/gordon_bio.html
Pages from "Ten Heavy Facts about Sex": http://www.flickr.com/photos/55159906@N00/sets/72157594551093068/
Newspaper article: "In search of askable parents": http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1298&dat=19860416&id=cw0QAAAAIBAJ&sjid=iIsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5629,2735223
Audio interview: http://www.iub.edu/~kinsey/library/sol_gordon.html
[1] What I was mis-remembering was that Sol was Emeritus Professor at Syracuse University!
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