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Gloria: "He taught me everything and showed me the world but most of all, he made me feel safe and loved. He was the one and only love of my life. He also thought and said that I was completely insane".
He was a stickler for good manners. He was also generous to a fault - not just generous with money but with his time, his expertise, his advice, etc.
Rita: "Gloria is very lucky to have you for her husband. I could not ask for a better son-in-law"
Ian: "He was truly amazing and his advice was indispensable. He was my Hero. He lived his life to the fullest extent and did not succumb to pressure. He did it his way without apologies."
Peter: "One measure of a man is the company he keeps. I do believe Alan is very special. I am grateful for his presence in my life, grateful for the inner journey and the outside travels."
Bobby: "Alan is truly a very remarkable and multi-talented person who can easily hold the interest of most of us for hours just chatting with him about anything at all."
Robb Jutras: "Gandhi said we should live life as if we were to die tomorrow, yet I know Alan that you learn as if you were to live forever."
Shanshan Zhou : "Alan's wisdom, sincereness in academic study, his positive attitude toward life and true friendship left me with a life-long impression. He inspired and encouraged me to pursue further legal study and his influence changed my course of life for the better and I am very grateful. He is a very strong willed and determined man whom I admire a great deal."
Kathy Liu: : "As a teacher, Alan was so wise, so humorous, so patient, so enthusiastic and full of knowledge. I always looked forward to attending his classes. He was a great influence on me."
Ivana : "Two things come to mind about Alan - 1) The Godfather, 2) his courage and perseverance in the past few years."
Tom Finnell : "Alan had an obsession for life. He didn't just try cooking, he mastered it."
Robin Finnell: "The best thing Alan did is make me laugh. He could tell a story like no other."
George Lindner (Alan's oldest friend who himself passed away in January): "I met Alan in 1957 and immediately took an intense dislike to him until I realised, and this very soon, that beneath this bombastic, often rough and sometimes hurtful exterior, there beats a heart filled with kindness and compassion, in addition to a brilliant scholarly mind."
The following are quotes from his work colleagues/students:
Ben Malmström (Helsinki, Finland):
"In the Spring of 1990 I had the pleasure to meet Professor Alan Hunter and during three short months at NCSU College of Textiles I learned to know an extraordinary and unforgettable personality.
The students loved him and appreciated him for his knowledge and his excellent and fascinating teaching in a way of raising interest of the topic among the listeners. As well as outside the lectures. I soon understood why.
I had the opportunity to participate in project meetings where also the thesis work of graduate students was followed up. Alan led the meetings with superior leadership.
On the university campus on the way to one of those sessions Alan all of a sudden remarked: I love Copenhagen, it must be my viking blood. Being a Scandinavian myself the remark somehow pleased me. That was typical Alan"
Bob Feil (Mobile, Alabama). Bob worked with Alan at Celanese in New York almost the entire time that Alan was there.
"Some of my funnier/scarier memories of Alan include: Drinking all night with a Chinese delegation and then having Alan miss his station stop by about 40 miles. On one of our customer outings to the Bahamas, it rained the entire time we were there. So what did we do with a dozen bored men? We introduced them to drinking by colors. By the time we got to blue and purple most of the bored people were either asleep, drunk or sick. Priceless.
After an unusually rough take off in a wide body jet, Alan stood up and announced to the stewardess she should consider opening the bar to the entire coach cabin (which she did!)."
Russ King:
"When Ian asked me to provide some comment about you Alan, the first thing that popped in my head was the work that we did together for THE GAP, Inc.
This was back in about 1992 and my first consulting experience in the apparel retailing world. While this project clearly has helped make my career in many ways, that's not what I was thinking about. As you recall we had a meeting in San Francisco with the bulk of the management team.
Things had been going pretty well when a woman whose name I've long forgotten and who clearly had not a lick of analytical sense began interrupting your discussion, pooh-poohing your ideas as either being unrealistic or interfering with the creative side of the business.
It was causing our presentation to deteriorate and lose the focus we wanted. You tolerated it for a while but then reached a point where you asked "Will someone shut this ditz up?" I about lost it but somehow managed to keep a straight face. I think most of the others in the room were thrilled to hear you say what was on their minds (and I sensed, on their minds for a long time).
It was great! I believe the fool had been tolerated long enough. The interesting thing about the event was how everyone took it in stride and I'm sure even she was not offended. Soon after I learned that you must have a reputation for speaking your mind. This was verified when we were asked to talk to some Milliken folks about some of our work.
Before the meeting some Milliken people were very concerned what you might say and one even asked me if I would talk instead which I promptly refused.
While you talked, I enjoyed looking around the room at the puckered asses who were waiting for you to offend someone's sensibilities.
Since that time I have been lucky enough to be given opportunities to talk in the States and in Europe about the work we've done. Your name always comes up in my talks - I give credit where it's due! I have to admit though that I always secretly hope to use what I learned at the feet of the master, that is, how to put a ditz in his/her place!"
Shanshan Zhou (Chicago, Illinois):
"I first met Alan at China Textile University in Shanghai, China in 1989. Alan was then a visiting professor giving lectures to students with major in industrial trade, while I was teaching international commercial law there. Alan's name was frequently mentioned by my students who were impressed greatly by his profound knowledge in academic fields, interesting subjects as well as great sense of humor.
I happened to be his unofficial leisure time interpreter then and got the chance to know him better and eventually became his friend. Alan's wisdom, sincereness in academic study/research/teaching, his positive/joyful attitude toward life and true friendship left me life long impression. Alan is also the very person who inspired/encouraged me to pursue further legal study and career in the U.S.
Without his encouragement and help, it is impossible for me to obtain my J.D. degree and thereafter start my law practice in the U.S. He is among the very few in my life who has influenced and changed my course of life.
It was Alan who invited me to his home for a visit soon after I landed in the U.S. and prepared me for the law school. It was Alan who gave me the encouragement to succeed the study there to pave the way to my law career."
Kathy Liu (Nanjing, China):
In my life, I once had about 50 teachers, Alan is one of the three who gave me great influence. When I was in grade two of China Textile University in 1989, Alan came to teach me for two months. Although the time was really short, it was of vital significance to me. Before that time, I had no idea, no plan to my future and life.
After I was Alan's student, I gradually set up my goals: to be a textile entrepreneur. Alan was so wise, so humorous, so patient, so enthusiastic and full of knowledge.
I always looked forward to attending his classes. Alan opened my mind and my eyes. Alan paid a special visit to me in 1990, he talked a lot with me about life, about job, etc. As usual his words inspired me a lot. In 1996, I changed my job position to sales department. I asked to work in Canada division and I visited Alan.
I have visited Alan a few times since 1998. His wisdom gave me a lot enlightening. I was approaching my life goal and at last, I owned my own garments factory in 2002."
Stefka Hineva (Ivana,s mother):
"Alan Hunter is several generations ahead of everybody else."
Paul Apostol (New Jersey). Paul was recruited by Alan in New York and worked with him until Alan retired. Paul wrote this after Alan's death:
"Alan was a mentor and inspiration to so many of us that it is hard to imagine the breadth of his influence on several generations of men and women. His towering intellect, fascination with people and his uncanny ability to make them feel that he was every bit as interested in their aspirations as they were made him an extraordinary and unforgettable figure for all that had the privilege to know him."
Liz Lowson:
I met Alan for the first time when Bob and I were in Montreal on our honeymoon. We chose a two-centre holiday; Quebec for its French charm and romantic appeal, and Montreal - for Alan! (our main sightseeing target for the city!) I have to say despite the appeal of Quebec and the charms of the big city and all it had to offer, including a romantic boat trip and meal on Le Bateau Mouche, both Bob and I agreed that the highlights of our entire stay had to be the time we spent with Alan and Gloria where we also had the good fortune to meet up with Peter (Gloria’s brother) and Ian.
It might sound crazy but I could just sort of ‘feel’ the sort of person Alan was before I met him, just through Bob talking about him - and I wasn’t disappointed! Pretty much from our introduction I was pleased to see that here was a ‘kindred spirit’. Someone as crazy, off the wall and free-spirited as myself, and of course Bob (although not everyone has had the opportunity to see that side of him!)
An instant friendship was struck up and I felt comfortable enough with him to insist on inflicting him with my poetry (‘ode to the Chateau Laurier’) and he was happily anticipating its ending, four lines into the poem!
The phrase: “and what do you think Alan would have thought of THAT” comes up a lot in our house; inferior cheese, ridiculous television programmes, dreadful service. The list is endless! But we always end up laughing, and ‘doing different’ - and better - than we would have without him.
I was very excited to meet Alan because I knew how much he meant to Bob, how much Bob valued Alan for himself and for his wonderful mind. It’s hard to explain how it’s possible on such short acquaintance but suffice it to say that we both loved him to pieces. I am so delighted I had the chance to meet Alan. It is quite unthinkable that I might have missed the chance had we left our visit to another year.
Poem - ‘Alan’ by Robb Jutras
Recipes
Alan - ‘homepage’
Mad as a hatter..?!
Alan’s page
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