too much fun to leave

It seems that Lingis is having too much fun to leave, and has extended his stay in Cairo all the way until his lecture in Vilnius late in February.

Initially he was fairly hotel-bound, working on a book project as well as the lecture, and recovering from some sort of ailment picked up in Ethiopia. But he has such a natural charisma (never seen anything like it) that once you introduce him to a couple of people, they all want to hang out with him too and have dinner every night as well.

My colleague Gogo also talked him into giving our Department a lecture; I hadn’t dared pressure him to do it, but that is an unexpected bonus for us. Manfred Frank is our official invited speaker this year, but now we also have Lingis and John Protevi coming through. We’re becoming a hub!

As for Lingis, I can only hope to be so energetic and open after reaching his current age. One encounters many competent teachers, but perhaps only 1 or 2 life-changing teachers. There was a magical weirdness to his house in Pennsylvania, as many students of my generation and adjoining ones will easily recall.