An Appreciation of Charles R. Boxer: Teacher, Scholar, and Bibliophile
During the 40 years that I knew Charles R. Boxer, there were years of intense communication and frequent meetings, then years when months passed with little communication, followed by years when contacts were limited to a meeting at a conference, exchange of Christmas cards, or occasional letters sharing a research finding, answering a query, or recommending a new book. For me, there has been a transition from being an undergraduate student to being a fellow member of the guild of scholars, and the easy relationship that is the fruit of the passage of time. While Boxer’s knowledge was so encyclopedic that his presence inspired the feeling of being perpetually in statu pupillari, one of his many talents was an ability to make one feel a fellow traveler in the quest of knowledge for a better understanding of humankind across time and space.