It’s been a true pleasure to read all these great memories from his family and friends. 

As an undergrad in his Humanities class in 1967, it quickly became obvious to me that Maury was a great teacher and scholar who loved to make us all laugh as he immersed us in his worlds of history, literature and music.   He knew I was a jazz drummer, and when I returned to MSU for a short stint with the Media Center’s film unit in 1975, he joined me and several others musicians for a free-form jam session - quite a stretch from Dixieland.  It was cool…I still have the recording on cassette.

In the 80’s & 90’s, working as a documentary filmmaker with PBS stations, I called him several times at his Vincent Voice Library for some historical music and speeches.   He always picked up his phone there saying, “Hello, this is the Voice Library…How can I make you happy?”  And he always did.

In 1998 I sent him a VHS tape of an Emmy-nominated documentary I made on the Holocaust, and a few months later dropped by his office at the Library with my wife and daughter as we were heading to northern Michigan, seeing him for the last time.  It was twenty-three years since I’d seen him.  He was unchanged, and joked about being pleasantly surprised that I’d made such a fine film.   I was glad my family had a chance to meet him.

How many hundreds, (or thousands) of us have only to think of him and smile?   Remaining so alive in so many hearts is an achievement few can hope to have…an incredible man.

the back of the photo reads "Maish holding Robin on the beautiful MSU campus." my darling cousing Caitlin recently mailed this to me, a wholly unexpected and precious surprise.

There are a few iconic tales, the sort of thing families pass down, and I’ll admit the one I’m about to tell is how I remember it; I, of, course, was not there.

My father was interviewing for an associate professorship with Holy Cross, a gig he wanted but not a school he wanted. He began the interview with “You know, I’m not so sure about that whole divinity of Christ thing.” Later in the interview, the part I remember best and the part I tell the most often;

“Mr. Crane, do you smoke or drink?”

“Not well enough to teach undergrads.”

Another family folklore thing I was around for but I still don’t remember. He said he had a gig the night I was born. His intro was something along the lines of “I have three kids now, my eldest daughter, Abby, she’s a cellist, Jon, a flautist (it doesn’t make sense, but bear with me) and my brand new son, Harry, he’s the pianist.”

I do have memories that aren’t funny, but I thought I’d fill the space where the missing F#*%ing Dis Custard joke went. A joke that made it all the more surprising when I stopped by his office once to find him bantering with Berry Gordy. He said he knew the guy but I thought he was making that up.  Wish I could remember a profound quote from that conversation but it was mostly like two kids taunting one another on a street corner.