I never knew Dean of the Chapel Ernest Gordon (Princeton Portrait, June issue) personally — my loss. But I have known of him since my undergraduate days and admired him from afar. My English grandfather was a POW in North Africa during World War II, under difficult but much less rigorous conditions; he and his shipmates were liberated, and he was able to return to service for the rest of the war. The description of the horrendous conditions Dean Gordon and his fellow prisoners suffered brought tears to my eyes. What an admirable man Princeton brought in to enlighten undergraduates, whatever their religious beliefs or nonbelief. Surely his tenure at Princeton must count as one of the University’s finest acts.
Editor’s note: Several readers shared memories of Dean Gordon, which are available online at bit.ly/deangordon.