Vice Provost Lorna Vogle: “With her long, thin nose Lorna looked like a hummingbird.”
Chair of the French Department: “She picked up a blini with one tiny hand and nibbled on it like a charming French mouse.”
Chair of the English Department:
Just the other day, indeed, the Chair of the English Department had turned his basset-hound eyes in my direction and given me an assessing look. Had he been considering me as a future, and potentially disruptive, member of his fiefdom, had my hair been unusually limp and frizzy that afternoon, or was he trying to decide if I was skilled in the art of poisoning? It was impossible to tell.
Collin Morehead, Professor of Plant Biology:
“I don’t think he’s the right man for the job,” Collin Morehead said. In his fifties, he reminded me of a picture I’d once seen of a bulldog’s face superimposed on the body of a man wearing a checkered shirt.
Tess Ryan, Professor of Plant Biology:
Tess radiated life. Her tanned skin shone, her eyes looked impossibly clear, and she had the body of an athlete. Standing still, she often reminded me of a young and vigorous stalk of corn.
Teresa Fuentes Elliott, Professor of Toxicology:
Teresa’s fragrance reminded me of blackberries and plums, of roses and orchids, and of something earthy and wood-like all in one. It suited Teresa who was far more glamorous than a toxicologist ought to be. She reminded me of something. What was it? A harvest? A flower market? Fruits spilling from a horn? Did she remind me of Miriam?
Ursula Romanoff, Professor of Women’s Studies
A woman with beautifully coifed blonde hair, she dressed herself like a piece of modern art—black tights, a long red sweater, yellow earrings and a matching clunky necklace. How does she do that? I wondered. I often felt barely pulled together.
Callie Jones, Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies:
Helena and Grace came next along with Callie Jones, my newest colleague, a young woman with a face as fresh and as open as that of a brown gerbera daisy.
Katherine Breyer, Professor of Physiology:
Katherine was a solid woman with gray hair and large tortoiseshell glasses, which gave her a rather owl-like presence.
