This page started out being a dedication to Dr. del Greco but I realized that one can not do a dedication
for him without also including his lovely wife Dona Laura because they have been so much a part of each
other's life for so many years. Therefore, the page and especially the music - Italian Love Song by Vic
Damone is dedicated to both Dr. and Mrs. del Greco.
My sincere thanks to Les Swazzo for the music.
(Click Les' name to visit his site.)
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This page is for a very special gentleman whom I had the
honor and pleasure of meeting in the summer of 1960. It was
just after the Cuban crisis and there was great emphasis
being placed on the study of foreign languages. The NDEA
had set up scholarship programs for students who desired
to take classes during the summers. I applied for a class
at the University of Virginia and fortunately was accepted.
Our professor was Dr. A. Armando del Greco and he and his
wife Dona Laura soon became two of the most unforgettable
people I have ever met. Over the next five years they both
became more than just acquaintances. Once they walk into
your life, they leave indelible prints on your heart.
When I called Dr. del Greco a couple of weeks ago and asked
if he would like to add his comments to a web page that I
was doing for a dear friend from our University of Virginia
class, he very willingly conspired with me and contributed
his thoughts. He also supplied me with some information for
this page but I am sure that at the time he never thought
about a page being done for him.
Now it is your turn, Dr. del Greco.
My sincere thanks to Lady Madona for the beautiful graphic
set and to Helen for all her ideas and help.
He has revealed a deep dark secret - "the gentleman you
classified as the professor who appeared in your class and
in many others, to attempt to teach graduate students of
Spanish, was not real. He was an often transplanted, pruned,
grafted, movable, transportable chestnut tree. He was rooted
in Anversa/Sulmona, Italy, transplanted, when he was a few
months old, in New York City. Several years later he was
taken back to Italian soil, moved for a while to the soil
of Spain, a place called: Soria fria, Soria pura,
Cabeza de Extremadura.
Then back to the USA he came, to be cultivated and grown,
so as to produce a variety of strange chestnuts, which
later and for many years were offered to the temptation of
many students. And do you know what? Instead of depleting
the tree, the students contributed much fertilization so
that the tree is now very old, still strong, and with
un-forgettable healthy branches each one of which bears the
name of the student who grafted it onto the trunk."
Dr. del Greco was a professor who expected much from his
students and I can’t think of anyone in our class who did
not try to meet his expectations. He never really took time
out to teach us how to study but it was something we learned
from his methods, by knowing exactly what was expected of us
and by his fairness. Each day we had literature, history,
and grammar. We knew that we could expect a pop quiz at
any time and that every Friday we would have a test on all
the work we had covered that week. Our class was always
interesting, often amusing, and always inspiring.
Everyone swore that he had ESP because he always
seemed to know what we were thinking and there were things
he knew that we thought were well kept secrets - like the
nick names that we had for everyone including his,
El Buen Papa - thus, the title of this page. :-) There
was also the lady who was in the process of getting a
divorce, who one morning came dashing into the room before
class and said that she knew he was a mind reader because
she was thinking about her divorce as she was coming to
class when she saw him and he started talking to her about
it - mentioning some of the very things she had running
through her mind at the time.
He also had a great sense of humor and thoroughly enjoyed
kidding his students.
Dr. del Greco, do you remember our last summer when, after
the exam, you played a record of a certain Garcia Lorca
poem? After class that day, some of us were discussing the
poem and a certain lady said that she had evidently
misunderstood it and she had been sitting in class with a
smile on her face which she felt was inappropriate for a
Baptist minister’s wife. She jokingly said that she thought
you should play it again so she could change her expression.
Being the nice person that I am :-), I told her I would call
you to ask if you would play it again to give her a chance
to change her expression. I went downstairs to the dorm
phone and made the call with some of the other students in
attendance. I explained to you what had been said and the
suggestion that this lady had made. Everyone was trying to
hold back the giggles because no one believed that I had
really dared to call you with this request until ---------
the next morning when you walked into the classroom with
the record player, explained the request you had received
and actually played the poem again. Besides being a super
professor, you are also a fantastic co-conspirator!
During the week we had lunch and dinner as a group in the
dining hall at which time only Spanish was spoken. On
weekends we could take our meals off campus and on many
Friday or Saturday evenings, he and Mrs. del Greco would
have the entire class out to their home for dinner.
Dona Laura was a wonderful gourmet cook and always had
enough prepared to feed an army! After the meal, we had
a delightful time chatting and singing Spanish folk songs.
After spending five terrific summers at the University
studying with Dr. del Greco, about three years after our
graduation he sent us information about a study trip he was
planning to Spain. Classes would be at the University of
Salamanca, the oldest university in Spain and one of the
oldest in Europe. I had studied Spanish all through high
school and had a wonderful art teacher who had studied in
Spain. She used to tell me about the customs, castles,
foods, bull fights, etc. during study hall and after school
while silk screening the magazine covers but at that time
I never thought I would ever have such an experience.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, Dr. and Mrs. del
Greco for making dreams come true!
We had a terrific summer, learning about twentieth century
literature, taking weekend trips to Segovia, Santander,
Santiago de Compostelo, Toledo, Burgos, el Rastro, the
Spanish Civil War Memorial, el Prado, La Casa Blanca,
el Palacio Real, and going to the bull fights, outdoor
cafes, shopping, etc.
Helen recalls --- “The director of summer school at the
University of Salamanca, a Communist and severe critic of
the USA, organized a trip to Segovia. We went but
Dr. del Greco had told us not to say anything when this man
was critical of our country. As difficult as it was for me
to do so, I kept my mouth shut out of respect for
Dr. del Greco. As a result of this stress, the muscles of my
back knotted, giving me severe back pain. I was unable to
visit Unamuno’s and I left the dinning room early that
evening. Dr. del Greco asked Marilyn why I had left. He and
Mrs. del Greco then went out and bought Sloan’s Lineament
and brought it to our room. He massaged the knots out of my
back and asked Marilyn to put the lineament on for me.
This is just one example of Dr. and Mrs. del Greco’s
concern for others."
I also recall our last week in Spain when we had returned
to Madrid, I had evidently eaten something that had not
agreed with me and was not able to go shopping with some
of the others as I had planned. When Dr. and Mrs. del Greco
heard about it, they went to the drug store, bought
medicine and brought it to me.
Helen says and I am in complete agreement with this -
"Not only did he inspire us way-back-when, but he continues
to do so as WE "totter down" in our late life.The way he
is living "his old age,"if one dares apply such a term to
him, gives us fresh inspiration!!! And it is a time that
I personally need it."
I will explain the above "his old age" statement by
simply saying that he describes himself as "this former
professor of yours who has now joined the nonagenarian club,
but still runs around annoying folks."
I can not imagine his annoying anyone but I do believe
the running around as he and Mrs. del Greco made a trip
to Italy earlier this year and are now planning another
return trip to Salamanca.
Buen Viaje y muchos abrazos a Ustedes!!!
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Made with love January 21, 2003