Sad news about Chris Otto

I'm saddened because I just learned that yesterday I lost a great mentor and  historian and teacher: Chris Otto. Though he had been battling cancer for over a year, it was totally under control and his death was quite unexpected.

We last exchanged emails about a month ago when he generously wrote yet another letter of recommendation for me and mailed it off to some job I don't really even want.

Here is a link to the obituary that will run tomorrow in the Ithaca Journal and a picture of how I remember him: on his 60th birthday on a decorated charter bus somewhere in Central Europe - smiling as usual!