Dr. Leslie Marenchin was a student of mine when I was chairperson of his undergraduate Department of Philosophy.
He was a favorite because he was always inquiring and then open to answers agreeable and not agreeable to him. He had the heart of a philosopher and the mind of a philosopher. Therefore, I was pleased--personally and professionally--to recommend him to Rice University for graduate study and later to the University of Houston for a position. He was a gem. It is no wonder his students rated him so highly. I would have appreciated his lectures, I am sure, to the depth of my being.
More than most people realize, Dr. Marenchin understood what Socrates contended: Philosophy is practicing dying! In the dialogue Phaedo, Socrates pointed out that, "Everyone except the philosopher regards death as a great evil." But those who really apply themselves, in the right way, to philosophy are preparing themselves for dying and death. Leslie Marenchin knew that "true philosophers make dying their profession."
The world has gained by his life and by his death.
-- John Ellsworth Winter, Ph.D.
Professor of Philosophy Emeritus
Millersville University of Pennsylvania
University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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