Very P. Misc autobiographical tidbits

[Mark Kohut]

James McConkey was a longtime respected Cornell
teacher and writer, now retired...I have read (some of) him....
anyway, this from a friend who knew that and
knows of my Pynchon obsession:

James McConkey's daughter-in-law is a good friend of mine. Our
daughters are friends at school. Her husband, Jim, is terrific but
away a lot shooting films. Anyway, she asked "the" James McConkey
about Pynchon. He was Pynchon's adviser and said he was very smart. As
I understand it, he encouraged Pynchon to switch majors from
engineering to English, but this is second hand. Pynchon and Farina
built a carport or something of that sort for McConkey. The professor
wrote Pynchon after one of his early books was published. He never
heard back. I wonder whether Pynchon received the letter. Mystery.
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Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l