Rich Everitt [REPOST]
Nikura...@yahoo.com
From: Nikuradse - view profile
Date: Fri, Feb 24 2006 1:02 pm
Email: "Nikuradse" <Nikuradse1...@yahoo.com>
Stumbled across another bit sometime back via a 'Google Books' search,
ah the power of the Internet.
It was this bit in the following book.
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Falling Stars: Air Crashes that Filled Rock & Roll Heaven by Rich
Everitt. Harbor House (September 2004)
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I stumbled on this bit (presumably from the acknowledments page):
"And lastly, I must thank my mentor, Trevanian, wherever he may be..."
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It turns out Rich Everitt has a website:
http://www.richeveritt.com/author.html
where we learn in part:
"...Rich holds a Master of Arts from Emerson College. He further honed
his film and television writing at Harvard. He also holds Bachelor of
Arts in psychology and speech from LaGrange College...."
------------------------------------------------
Rod Whitaker taught at Emerson College in Boston from the Fall of 1980
to an unknown date (perhaps 1984-85?).
Curious
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From: Nikuradse - view profile
Date: Wed, Mar 1 2006 12:33 pm
Email: "Nikuradse" <Nikuradse1...@yahoo.com>
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Well I decided to write Mr Everitt and here is the all too brief
correspondence.
I am primarily interested in ascertaining how long Whitaker taught at
Emerson College and resided in the Boston area. Part of the chyallenge
of unraveling Rod Whitaker's life is in figuring out where he was and
when.
For example i have seen heard variously that Whitaker taught at McGill
and Concordia in Canada but I have not been able to ascertain anything
more concrete.
I have speculated / hypothesized that perhaps the last place Whitaker
taught was in Canada and that he finally moved to Europe full-time in
1984-85
On another note, I have thought that between the fictional last chapter
of "Incident in Twenty mile" (posing as non-fiction and fooling several
reviewers BTW) and the mention in "Shibumi" of Nicholas Hel owning
property in Wyoming that perhaps Rod Whitaker in real-life owned or had
a connection to Wyoming and it appeared in his fiction.
Who knows for sure.
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Dear Mr. Everitt,
I was perusing a copy of your book "Falling Stars" and I noticed that
you acknowledged "Your mentor, Trevanian, wherever he may be.."
As a long-time fan of Trevanian's I found your mention intriguing.
Googling your website I noticed that you attended Emerson College in
Boston.
I for one subscribe to the belief that Trevanian was Dr. Rodney W.
Whitaker and I was aware that he took a position at Emerson College in
the Fall of 1980-81.
As you may know, unfortunately Dr. Whitaker recently died in December:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/17/arts/17trevanian.html?ex=1292475600&en=c16b76176fd66e09&ei=5090
I was wondering if you were perhaps a student of Dr. Whitaker's at
Emerson way back then?
Do you know how long he taught at Emerson before departing permanently
to Europe?
I would be delighted if you felt so inclined as to answer some
questions and satisfy elements of my occasional curiousity about
someone who appears from all accounts to be a frightenly intelligent
and accomplished man.
Regards,
----------------------------------------------
Hi Dennis,
Surely, there were hundreds of us who knew Rodney's secret. I think
it speaks to the enormous respect all of us had for him that not one of
us ever gave him up.
As others have now made clear, Rodney was a most extraordinary man.
His supreme intellect was matched only by his personal kindness. I
benefited from both while a grad student at Emerson, as he took me
under his wing and changed my life. His influence remains manifest in
my life.
We've lost a good one.
Rich Everitt
FALLING STARS:
Air Crashes that Filled Rock & Roll Heaven