Poetic Obituaries: [Richard] Kroll genuinely wanted to raise

the standard in his classroom, never failing to mix his flamboyant presentation and sense of humor with the keenest, most nuanced analysis of any professor in the department. Kroll developed his own parlance to engage students, making sure everybody knew his playfully ironic distinction between the "Crap Poets" of Oxford and the "Good Poets" of Cambridge (of course, it was just a coincidence he went to Cambridge himself). To keep things interesting, there was always the possibility that a blue ball might glance the side of your head if you started nodding off.

from New University: Richard Kroll, 1953-2009

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