David Krantz

March 20th, 2016

For Claire and the Krantz family,
since news of David’s passing reached Lake Forest College, my heart and thoughts have been with you. I admired and respected David as a colleague, in large part because we shared so much of our intellectual heritage and values even in the face of opposition and disdain. What really united us, though, was our love of music, especially David’s beloved Baroque music. I don’t think we realized this commonality and shared passion until quite late; David had retired, and once in a while I would bring him CDs checked out from the College. Sometimes I came upstairs to the fabulous apartment and we would listen to some Vivaldi or Boccherini together, while sharing a beer; or we just met downstairs on the street and chatted a while. We had the same tastes, and in part the same sensibilities and sensitivities–but what David had, and I didn’t, and what led me as a (somewhat) younger colleague to look up to him, was that David was always his own man: he stuck to his guns, he stated and asserted his opinions and ideals, and he insisted on his standards.

It’s not that David did not care what others thought of him or his positions, because he did care. But he had the chutzpa, and the confidence–maybe also the pride–to tolerate the difference and dissent of others while maintaining his own views, when accommodation, compromise or craven caving in would have been, perhaps, the more expedient course. David and I first shared this kind of assessment when I recommended that he would be the man to teach the Richter Scholar ‘Ways of Knowing’ seminar–a proposal that hadn’t the faintest chance of realization, because the powers that be did not wish to let students benefit from David’s challenging, but stimulating and rewarding, version of the Socratic method. There were other instances, too numerous to mention, that cast David, as they did me, in a somewhat adversarial light, championing values and methods that were not always popular or easy to realize. Yet vindication was there, as many students loved David and cherished his mentorship and sponsorship. In fact, some revered him above all others. I did, too.

I do not listen to music without seeing, inwardly, David’s tense and attentive posture, his mustache, his furrowed brow and his warm, dark, sparkling eyes.

~Richard Fisher
~Colleague and Friend, Chicago/Lake Forest, IL

February 17th, 2016

Dear Claire and Family,
My heart goes out to you on the recent loss of your beloved husband, father, and grandfather. Claire, we somehow lost touch years ago, but I was your freshman roommate at Busey Hall at the U. of I. when you were studying OT. Time has passed, but you will always have a special place in my heart.
With sincere condolences,
Helen Klinn Angel

~Helen Klinn Angel
~college roommate, Evanston, IL