Chris Warden
So after several months of inactivity, here I am again. Unfortunately, this first post of the new year will not a happy one. Like a post back in August, this one is going to be about someone who affected my life.
I got a phone call from Greg Phillips on Sunday afternoon about Professor Warden. Greg told me that they were going to take him off life support. That shocked me a little because I didn't even know that he had been ill. He passed away later Sunday night.
Turns out he had fallen in the shower a few weeks ago and broke his hip. He had to have surgery, but there were complications. He was a hemophiliac (I had no idea), and apparently things went downhill from there.
In addition to being just a teacher of mine, he was also my advisor for the years I was in the school of journalism. Any time I needed some advice, he was there. Classes, assignments, whatever. Occasionally, I'd get a glimpse into Prof the person - whether it was after class, sitting around eating pizza and putting the Trop together, managing our team for the Trop-Trojanvision softball game, or the end-of-the-year excursion.
Now that I think about it, there was so much more to him than I knew. He had a ton of real-world experience that he drew on to teach his classes, but I never really took the time to get the backstory. Speaking of his classes, they were tough. But they weren't tough because he wanted you to fail — they were tough because he wanted you to be good. Somehow, I always managed to pull an A out.
I knew him as my advisor, teacher and person, but I wish I had known him better. Thanks, Prof, for all you did. We'll miss you.
