On Wynn Martin

I was fortunate to know Wynn Martin, although I would be the first to admit that I probably did not appreciate him as much as I should have.  Though the Rice Sentinel (of which I was co-founder and editor for two years) was run by people with a more-or-less "conservative" perspective, that made little difference.  Indeed, I think Wynn was attracted by the maverick nature of the Sentinel.  What prevented me from appreciating Wynn the way I should have was, without a doubt, my own neurotic perfectionism.  Wynn had volunteered to do page layout for us.  I don't think he knew what he was getting into, since I wound up changing everything if a headline happened to be one point too close or too far from the text.

The moral of the story: Wynn was in the wrong job.  How obtuse I was not to recognize this!  We should have encouraged a free spirit like Wynn to write more pieces in the style of the beloved Dr. Seuss essay, which I still like to read about once a year.  Without a doubt, Wynn brought a sense of lightness, and much idiosyncratic humor, to the Sentinel.  Fifteen years later, surrounded by mostly humorless academics, I've learned not to take these things for granted.  I recall some good times at Wynn's apartment.  They usually revolved around computer geekage and Yes music, two things that we had in common.

I am sad to have learned of Wynn's passing.  God bless Wynn and his family.

Robert C. Miner
Hanszen College, class of 1993
email: Robert_Miner@baylor.edu