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MichaelMeckler.com: Blog: Braxton who?

Braxton who?

20 AUGUST 2014

Seemingly the only news in central Ohio the past two days has involved the shoulder injury to Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller that will prevent him from playing during his senior year.

Whenever I am engaged in conversation on this topic — and this has been the primary topic of conversation both on and off campus — I often refer to the quarterback by an incorrect last name. By habit, whenever I say the first name "Braxton," I follow it with the last name "Ross."

Braxton Ross taught palaeography at the University of Chicago from 1968 until his early death at the age of 62 in 1994. While I did not actually have the opportunity to take a class with him while I was a master's student at Chicago in the late 1980s, I did get to know him and appreciate his immense knowledge and genial personality.

Although he passed away 20 years ago, to this day I still instinctively utter the last name "Ross" whenever confronted by the first name "Braxton."

 

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