Seven Lean Years

Book excerpt: In the spring of 1968, I was putting the finishing touches on my dissertation at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. On the very day that I planned to accept a position at a university in Ohio, I received a call from one Lu Garvin, who said he was the Provost of Macalester College which was located in St. Paul, Minnesota. Dr. Garvin was in Lansing, and asked if I would be interested in driving up from Ann Arbor for an interview on that day or the following day. I had never heard of Macalester College, but having grown up in South Dakota, I had always thought that the Twin Cities would be a wonderful place to live. Hence I decided to go for the interview. I called the university in Ohio, and they gave me another week to make my decision.