Document Type

Teacher, Colleague, Mentor

Abstract

Combining personal reminiscence and reflections on a professional life as an academic, this essay deals with the challenges of maintaining personal friendships while judging each other's work with integrity and acuity. It is in the nature of our business that we are evaluated by our most brilliant and successful colleagues. In this case, because of Richard Taruskin’s honesty and his unsparing commitment to certain intellectual standards, the challenge was magnified.