Heavy Rain and Heavy Heart

One of my most beloved Professors passed away last night, and it leaves me with a very heavy heart.

Emory Elliott was an incredibly GOOD man. I worked with and for him for about 7 years--my entire graduate career. I was one of his many editors, ghost writers, and nurtured grad students, and I never wavered in my sheer admiration for his kind heart, generosity of spirit, and impeccable work ethic. Although I don't know how or why he passed, I am going to speculate that his impeccable work ethic is exactly what ended his life: he worked entirely too hard.

Emory came from a poor family and put himself through Ivy league schools. He married, stayed married, loved his wife, and adored his children and grandchildren--you could just tell. He made over six-figures, but he lived modestly and put all of his money into his kids and grand kids so they would not have to scrape by the way he did.


My favorite memory of Emory is during my PhD qualifying oral exam. He fell asleep. I was answering a question, and I looked over at him, as I made eye contact with each of the five faculty members while responding, and I saw him dozing. If you knew Emory, he always dozed, not out of disrespect but sheer exhaustion. I found it endearing, even in that particularly tense moment of exams.

He had a huge heart, and I am so saddened to hear it finally collapsed under the weight of his goodness.