For 41 years, William Lyon Phelps was one of the most unique professors at Yale University. In his first year teaching, he offered a course in the modern novel, upsetting his colleagues because it brought international attention to the institution. Because of demand from the students, he taught it outside the normal curriculum. He was an incandescent and inspiring orator and, yes, his lectures weren’t as scholarly as other academics, but his classes were always packed. This was because he was hugely entertaining, to the point of eccentricity. He inherited the home he shared with his wife from her parents. The front lawn include an ancient and much-loved track for trotters. Lyon Phelps had it converted to an 18-hole golf course. He had a radio show and a syndicated newspaper column. “Music is the manly art,” he insisted. “In the entire history of music, in all times and countries, there had never been a woman able to write first-rate music.” But what he did in 1926 took the cake.
© 2024 John Oliver
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