To the editor:

Thank you for your March 26 editorial tribute to the late George Baxter Smith. George was, indeed, a mentor and friend to many whom he took under his wing. Your editorial mentioned that he served as a confidant and adviser to several Kansas University chancellors. I know that to be true, and you should know that his influence extended far beyond Mount Oread.

As a young faculty member, later a KU dean, and now the chancellor at another university, I remember with great appreciation George Baxter Smith as one of those sponsors of my early career who had an indelible influence. (Another was the late Raymond Nichols, who, like George, took a personal interest in my development at KU.)

George was also a parishioner at Plymouth Congregational Church, where I served as organist-choirmaster. My robust playing of the organ never failed to cause George serious aural discomfort. He was good-natured about this and, nonetheless, I think he attended every organ recital I played in Lawrence, all the while wishing I would play more softly.

I shall miss George, his ready smile and his practical advice. His influence is felt in more than one chancellor’s office, and in Chapel Hill, an additional whisper, “Softer please.”

James Moeser,

Chapel Hill, N.C.