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Mr. Eric Friesen (BA 1967)

Life Lesson #1

Life Lesson #1 - the value of performance, of manner as well as matter, of style as well as substance. I learned this first from my first-year history course, taught by that most dashing of Jesuit scholars, the late Hugh MacKinnon… It was a medieval history course, something that didn’t thrill me right off. But Hugh MacKinnon, in his Saville Row suits, flowing silver hair, rich baritone voice and brilliant wit and erudition, dazzled us. I think he could have done so by teaching us the intricacies of betting on horses… He surprised us, he shamed us, he made us laugh, he was always meticulously prepared, he rarely used notes, he engaged with all of us, hundreds of us, in History 101. For Hugh MacKinnon, every class was show-time. And it’s a lesson I never forgot, and have applied pretty much every day since. I credit much of my success as a radio host to the example of this singular man, the like of which I had never seen in my life up to that point.

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