George Panichas: Memories of a Friend (In Memoriam) (Essay‪)‬

I met George Panichas while I was a graduate student in English at the University of Maryland, College Park. I had heard him speak at a local Episcopal church and was impressed by his impassioned delivery and his lively talk with the audience afterwards. A week or so later, not altogether sure how welcome I would be since I didn't know him, I climbed the stairs to his office on the top floor of Taliaferro Hall and introduced myself. He immediately invited me in and we had a pleasant chat. Thus, I learned an easy lesson: Dr. Panichas was very approachable to students, even ones he didn't know, and entirely lacking in the hauteur of many academics. I was surprised, too, by his workplace, so different from those of his colleagues. The office was immaculate, the bookcases polished and shining, the papers and books stacked neatly on his desk. A fastidious man, I decided, though I little knew at the time how well the office illustrated his love of order, his sense of the correct proportion of things. Over the years, we developed an easy friendship. Whenever he came down from Agawam, his Massachusetts home, to his apartment in College Park, we would go out to dinner together and talk, often about the state of the world and American civilization, which grieved him much, but mostly about literature. Afterwards we would often go back to his apartment to continue our conversation and to nibble on the Greek delicacies put out for us by his beloved "Auntie". Like the office, the apartment was orderly and tastefully decorated. The walls were filled with original paintings and drawings, many done by friends. In one corner was a framed letter from a much-admired poet, Siegfried Sassoon. In both the living room and main bedroom, where his aunt slept, he kept beautiful Russian Orthodox icons. The icons were meditation aids, but he valued their artistic qualities as well.