LEIGH LISKER (1918—2006)
Ellen Prince
Comments on Leigh Lisker
I first met Leigh Lisker in September 1967; I saw him last the afternoon before he died several weeks ago.
He was a gentleman and a gentle man. He lived his politics: he was always compassionate and egalitarian, with nothing prima donna-ish or elitist about him, --- and in an era when elitist prima donnas were unexceptional on Ivy League campuses.
Leigh Lisker was very proud when his daughter Carol Lisker (now Carol Kennedy) had her name on posters all around the city because she was running for City Council on the Socialist Workers Party ticket.
Leigh Lisker was a mine of information on the socio-political history of Penn, especially during the McCarthy era, and would fascinate Gerry and me with stories showing that Penn was not quite as saintly in that period as its reputation would have us believe.
I am fortunate and honored to have been a student in Leigh Lisker's department, and as a subject in a number of his speech perception experiments. I was a young assistant professor coming up for tenure under his chairmanship, his colleague, and his friend. He has left me with the very warmest memories and I shall miss him always.
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