Kenneth reads from his journal that on Oct. 16, 1927 his weight is 138 lbs, and he wrote to Margaret about it, joking that she now could marry him and he would look the best that he ever would.
After spending all summer studying and working, Kenneth returned to campus and roomed with Bill Irwin. He talks about his book business and how he earned a percentage of the sale for himself.
Kenneth visited his father in Meadville and met a working man at the Erie Railroad who was doing what Kenneth used to do there. He was making substantially more money than Kenneth was likely to make in religious work.
Kenneth recalls riding the train with his mother and feasting on the railroad dining car. They had had vacation in Gull Lake, to which they had invited Margaret. They were coming back to Chicago.
Kenneth explains his approach to taking tests. For example he took a three-hour exam in 45 minutes, to his professor's astonishment, by outlining what he was learning in a way that made it easy for him to memorize and remember it quickly during the…
Kenneth worked as an usher at football games and sold tickets in his first two years at Princeton. He remembers a Harvard fan who once found himself on the wrong side of the stadium and would cheer for Harvard from the midst of a crowd that was…
Kenneth moved back to campus after studying all summer in preparation for the coming year. He roomed with Billy Irwin, who had a family and a house in town and so wouldn't use his campus room much.
Bernie Green was a very old man on faculty at Princeton. Students would imitate his voice and Kenneth learned about it and repeated it while the campus gathered for a photograph with Bernie Green right next to him--Kenneth hadn't met him yet, and so…
While at Princeton Kenneth received the visit of his father, Brad, and the two traveled to visit Brad's brother, Ed. He was a bachelor living in the old house, and Brad would do anything he asked, at Kenneth's amazement.
Kenneth recalls Dick Wilson's work on the Old Testament, his reputation worldwide in philology, and how he felt he would be ready to die after he had finished an article he was writing: his work would have been done.
Kenneth recalls Robert Dick Wilson as a man in his 80's who had laid his life in sequences of 15 years each (teach, research, writing). He was about Kenneth's size and was very active.
Kenneth recalls being called by "Dick" to parse a whole chapter of Hebrew in the Old Testament, unprepared. One day Dick invited him to tea at 10 o'clock at his home. He would work until 2:00 a.m. helping Dick in his work, and tea would come only at…
Kenneth attended the annual banquet although he was sick. He attended his classes as usual, went to the banquet and ate, sang, and felt better. Princeton didn't have Greek societies but eating clubs with very real social function.
Das Machen invited the Checkers Club to his room at 8:30. Some twenty of them packed in the room and enjoyed the food he had put out for them. They played checkers and chess.
Kenneth recalls and reads from his early letters to Margaret from Princeton. He talks about his classes at Hebrews, his address, and life in Princeton.
Kenneth talks about how excellent Princeton was back then, just one brilliant professor after another. The scholarship was excellent before it all began falling apart.
Kenneth recalls professor "Das Machen," a bachelor who would go around singing that nobody loves him. It was a way to invite people to come to his room and enjoy treats and chat.
Kenneth remembers the first time he met professor Robert Wilson. He came to Kenneth's room and made a joke with a huge pipe. He had divided his life in sequences of fifteen years: 15 for study, 15 for writing, and 15 for teaching.
Kenneth's first semester at Princeton he studied Hebrew and Greek and worked hard to be part of the top ten who entered professor Robert Wilson's advanced Hebrew class after Christmas time.