Harvard, 1952–1955

Abstract

Having survived and thrived at Caltech, then earning an MA in economics at KU, Harvard was easy. I had trail-blazing teachers of the day—Leontief, Haberler, Orcutt, Hanson, Samuelson who taught down-river to MIT. At Harvard, I placed among the top 2–3 graduate students. My entry scores at Harvard were good enough, but not outstanding, proving what I had long believed and witnessed, that smart students rest too easily on their mental endowments and learn to work only hard enough to excel—stronger on pretense than on curiosity. This is not prescriptive of an intellectual life of adventure and wonder. I write about the local news; it was hilarious, especially the politics, but also the local heroes, from cops to the FBI most wanted. The Boston area is a fun place to live, for a short time anyway.