Alumnus Alan Littell ’53 publishes collection of essays on ‘characters’ of Alfred University

ALFRED, NY – During his tenure as press officer at his alma mater, Alfred University alumnus Alan Littell ’53 met or learned of a host of people associated with the University whose personalities were so unique and interesting he was inspired to pen essays detailing their time at Alfred.

Last month, a collection of several of those essays, compiled in a paperback titled “The Absentminded Stargazer (And Other Tales of Alfred University),” was made available on Amazon. Littell will be on hand for a book signing set for Saturday, June 11, at 9:30 a.m. at the Alfred University bookstore in Powell Campus Center during the University’s Alumni Reunion.

The book consists of 18 essays Littell wrote between 1968 and 1986, while he was public information officer at Alfred University. “I knew a lot of people at Alfred. Some were so out of the ordinary, I decided to write about them,” said Littell, who earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University in 1953. The author of two novels, his professional career has included time as a newspaper, magazine, and radio journalist.

Littell stresses that the book is not academic in nature, but rather a informal collection of “personality sketches on interesting characters” he knew while attending Alfred University as a student or during the two decades he ran a one-man communications shop at his alma mater. Others he learned about through research of the University’s archives with Laurie Lounsberry Meehan ’91, longtime archivist in Herrick Library. Lounsberry Meehan penned the afterword for “The Absentminded Stargazer.”

“This is not an academic piece. These aren’t profiles on PhDs and administrators,” Littell said. “I have written about people and let their personalities come through.”

The opening essay, “The Absentminded Stargazer” features William Augustus Rogers, a professor at Alfred for nearly a decade in the latter half of the 19th century. Rogers attended the Alfred Select School (the precursor to Alfred University) and in 1859 was named professor of mathematics at the recently chartered Alfred University. He took a leave from Alfred in 1863 to pursue a degree in astronomy from Brown University and returned to Alfred University in 1865, teaching math as well as a new course in astronomy.

Rogers went on to teach at Harvard and then at Colby College. At Colby he would come to be known for his forgetfulness. One story tells of a time he boarded a local trolley, removed the nickel fare from his wallet, handed the conductor his wallet, and placed the coin back in his pocket.

Other Alfred University personalities Littell writes about in his book include late sports information director Johnny Nelson (“Vaudeville Was His Nursery”), and late alumnus and Alfred University benefactor Evelyn Openhym (“The Country of Her Dreams”).

In a essay titled “Alfred in 1950” Littell paints a picture of Alfred University during his time as a student. The piece features two faculty members who had a particular influence on his education: late English professor Melvin Bernstein and the late Mary Elizabeth Binns, who taught pottery, sculpture, and art history. Binns was the daughter of Charles Fergus Binns, who in 1900 founded the New York State School of Clay-Working and Ceramics, which would become the New York State College of Ceramics.

“The Absentminded Stargazer (And Other Tales of Alfred University)” was published by Alfred University Press, to which Littell donated the book’s copyright. Portions of the book appearing in Chapter 18 (“Twice an Immigrant”) were published in Littell’s previous two books of non-fiction, “Winter Passage” (2018) and “Caroline” (2021). Littell’s brother and fellow Alfred University alumnus, Robert Littell ’56, is a renowned novelist living in France.