This morning I wrote this short remembrance of Fenn:
I have many, many memories of working together with Fenn as a fellow trustee. He combined generosity and humility more powerfully and effectively than any person I've ever met. You could feel this unusual combination of qualities not just in the context of work. You sensed it in every routine interaction. Typically on the night before a day-long Board meeting at Frost Valley, a few of us would stay overnight at the Friendship House together. Invariably, Fenn and I were the last to "hit the hay," as he would say. We'd stay up in the living room talking and swapping stories. He would characteristically defer to me ("I'm sitting here, after all, with a college professor.") and listen while I nattered away on some subject or another. But then, when I ran out of steam, he would tell a tale that seemed trivial ("What do I know? I'm just a bumpkin nobody.") but turned out to perfectly summarize our entire conversation, take the overall point to the next level, and leave me pondering the largest thoughts. I was really his student all along, and not a very good one. I will not ever forget my teacher--our mentor in the fine arts of kindness and selflessness.
