I’ll bet that everyone who knew him has a favorite Alan Dundes story. Here’s a couple of mine. To understand both, you have to know that Dundes was larger than life in many ways, including physically. I somehow don’t want to apply the adjective “fat” to him, although, yes, he was. Some called him “a tank,” others, “a rhino.” He was so formal and so formidable that I resort to an old-fashioned word, “portly.”I only ever saw him in a charcoal gray suit, white shirt, and dark tie. And he knew everything about his field. Students would line up in...
