Story by Jim Cavanagh '63

Submitted on 23 October 2009

I was a freshman in one of Dean Rowe's classes when the term 'deus ex machina' sallied forth from his lips and somehow got connected to a discussion of the 'sun god'. Whirling on the assembled students, one eyebrow arched and index finger waggling in search of a target, he asked, "Who was the sun god?"; and then leveled the finger at me. "Apollo", I blurted, with no conscious awareness of where I had sourced the answer.

Dean Rowe appraised me over the top of his glasses, trying, I suspect, to decide if I was informed or lucky, and then asked, "How did you know?" Before his eyebrow could descend, I truthfully responded, "Just a shot in the dark." He brought both of his eyes to bear on mine for a moment and then released the smallest of smiles that touched just the corner of one side of his mouth. Then, having decided that I was possibly more quick-witted than I looked, he reengaged the eyebrow, raised the finger and moved on.

I have no memory of a similar engagement in any of the large classes I took 'across the road'. I have a boatload from Huron.