Bill Knox was a large part of the reason I loved my time at UNCG so much. It was Bill who, as graduate director, raided UNC-Chapel Hill’s "rejects" file for promising grad students who might thrive at UNCG. When he invited me to apply I was so flattered (and so bereft of other good opportunities) that I leapt at the chance.
I did thrive, and still look back at my two years there as the most interesting and fulfilling of my life. The faculty as a whole were great, but Bill was more like an intellectual “parent” than any of the others. As an educator now myself, I tend to pooh-pooh stories about teachers who take a personal interest in their students and thus have a positive affect their lives. Such cliché, so hackneyed. But that’s only because I too easily forget what Bill gave to me.
He was the model of the gentleman scholar, erudite, jocular, and interested in everything. His friendship has been active and enthusiastic to this day, and I am grateful for having been invited into his family circle so warmly over the years.