Sidney Mintz introduced me to anthropology
when I studied as an undergraduate at Johns Hopkins from 1980 to 1984. One of
my favorite memories of Professor Mintz is his advice regarding the completion
of my senior thesis. I emailed him in 2013 to share this anecdote with him.
Below is part of my email and his response.
CS: Although I learned a
tremendous amount of scholarship from you professor as an undergraduate...the
one anecdote I often repeat is that we were in the elevator together sometime
in the spring of 1984 when I was finishing my Honors Thesis and I asked you:
how will I know when the thesis is good enough to hand in? And you answered:
"At some point Chris you just say f*ck it, and hand it in!" I
still think that was invaluable advice!
SM: Gee,
what a great way to be remembered! Maybe that should go on my tombstone!
