From Luigi
As one of Laura’s former colleagues, I was saddened when she left linguistics, but this unexpected news was devastating.
When she was on the faculty at UMD, College Park, we had regular exchanges with my department at Johns Hopkins. We participated in several seminar together, in which I clearly remember Laura running much of the discussion. Laura was a brilliant theoretician, but also so much more. She was a true friend, and she had the kind of practical mind that made it possible for one to exchange notes with her on power tools and home improvements. It was somewhat in that spirit, in fact, that we shared a ‘needs fixing’ attitude towards the field of Phonology.
Laura was also a natural satirist of human nature and foibles. As one of her elders, I felt an occasional urge to dispense advice, and I once told her that the main challenge of getting older was to stay out of the pants, as more and more of the person tends to relocate there. Little did I know that Laura had her own theory of aging. As in other domains, her theory was superior and more perceptive. Without going into details, it was hilarious.
In short, she was a real human being.
We loved you, Laura.
Posted by Luigi Burzio
Monday March 4, 2013 at 9:16 am