I remember how Laura loved gardening; in Nyack she had built a small but gorgeous garden along with a deck where she hung out a lot. I visited her regularly when my son was in college in Troy (NY) but she didn't tell much about her (quite lonely?) life, except for stories about her students whom she obviously cared a lot about, and her colleagues. I am sure she made a difference in her students' lives. She worked very hard and spent a lot of time driving back and forth to the Bronx. She hated the academic bubble and its self-centeredness, she had a much greater need to make a 'real' difference than typical academics like me. I invited her down many times but she would not revisit old haunts such as Maryland where she had been profoundly unhappy. I got to know her well shortly before she left as she was wrestling with the decision of quitting academia (we had many conversations about that and other topics, including men…); I genuinely admired her gutsiness as a woman and found her defining combination of laughing and hard-edge attitude extremely appealing and even endearing. In the last week or so I had been talking (to my husband) about contacting her to tell her that we were planning to drop by in the summer if she'd have us visit. I am terribly sad that no one will ever again hear those big laughs and off-beat remarks barely hiding that big heart of hers...