Remembering Mac Priestley *72

The March issue included a memorial to William McGowen (Mac) Priestley *72, who received his doctorate in mathematics, and was a friend of mine, living next door to me at the New Graduate College the year we both started at Princeton. His memorial missed the fact that I used to hear Mac often playing Puccini opera recordings, and I, as a chemical engineer, not knowing much about music, got hooked. Not kidding, it made me a different person. I subscribed to the opera in New York, moved there, met my wife, and engaged in opera-related activities for the next five decades. I say honestly and thankfully that Mac was one of the few people who really changed my life.