Rest in Peace, Professor William McFeely

At least I got a chance to see him this year and thank him for all he did for me.

Professor William McFeely was the advisor on my senior essay, which I did 49 years ago. He was steeped in nineteenth century history, and history somehow led me to journalism.

McFeely was extraordinarily generous over the decades. He’d read and comment on anything I sent. He’d write recommendations as I moved from job to job with seeming endlessness.

This past March, Jeremy Travis, a criminal justice scholar and former President of John Jay College, reached out and suggested we visit Professor McFeely up in Sleepy Hollow. We spent the day with him, going out for lunch and chatting with in his apartment. He was living alone. His wife Mary Drake McFeely had died last year.

Rest In Peace, William McFeely. Thanks again, Jeremy.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/13/books/william-mcfeely-pulitzer-winning-historian-dies-as-89.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Left to righ: Jeremy Travis, William McFeely, BrooklynRon