RICHARD LOCKE

My warmest condolences go out to Richard Locke´s family. He had a tremendous impact on my work and career, as he did with so many. I feel lucky to have had him as both a teacher and thesis advisor. He inspired and challenged me in ways I still remember years later. But some of my fondest memories was how in class he´d occasionally break into a smile or laugh for a moment remembering something his then young children had said or done earlier that morning at home. One time, he marveled out...

What an inspiring human!!! I actually know Richard best through his daughter Sarah, who carries forward his integrity, kindness, intelligence and wit for her large circle of friends to enjoy! (I´m lucky to be one) Sending love & heartfelt sympathy to the whole Locke family as you navigate this loss and celebrate Richard´s well-lived life.

Richard was a wonderful, generous, and rigorous teacher. My time at Columbia would have been much diminished without him. He was a thoughtful, sensitive reader and encouraging mentor. I´ll never forget the books I read for his class because his insight into them was so precise and joyful. I will always be grateful he was my professor.

Professor Locke bookended my time at Columbia. He was the one to call me and tell me of my acceptance into the writing program and he was one of my thesis readers. It is impossible to overstate the impact he had on my life. What a beautiful person he was, what grace, what decency, what a life well lived.

Richard Locke was an incredible teacher. He was a wonderful thesis workshop instructor - brilliant and so generous. He had a gift for seeing a young writer´s vision and helping them to draw closer to it.

One of the best professors I ever had. He'll be sorely missed.

I will never forget Richard Locke's incredible teaching. I would not be the writer I am today without his wisdom. In lecture, I hung on his every word, marveled as the easy intelligence with which he took apart texts to show us how they were put together. My deep condolences.

A remarkable, supportive and rigorous professor. Our heart aches.