When the Fed Ex van made it to the top of our Provençal hill on a late summer morning, it was a much happier occasion than many of this summer’s deliveries, a long stream of page proofs and editorial requests that Patricia has described as “publishing hell. ” Hell is over, and the heavenly results are apparent elsewhere on the site.

But back to that August morning: the delivery was from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA, which in May awarded Patricia an honorary doctorate of fine arts. Officials at the distinguished college had shipped the framed certificate announcing the artium doctoris; the black, white and scarlet academic “hood” the she is now entitled to wear in future academic processions; and the charming and extensive description of Patricia’s accomplishments, written by Dr. Kathryn Wixon of the college French department and read by Peyton R. Helm, president of Muhlenberg, as he conferred the degree.

The mover and shaker in all this was Sandy Jaffee, who came to Provence as one of Patricia’s students and became a great friend. A retired executive vice president at Citibank, she’s on the Muhlenberg board.

This was Patricia’s second honorary doctorate – the first was from her alma mater, the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, in 2006.

I’m posting a PDF of the Muhlenberg citation here – Patricia was resistant to the idea, but she’s not always right.

– Walter Wells