Perspectives

I spent an off-campus semester in Chicago with a thrust-upon-me roommate: [Maurizio] Nick Barbatano ’81. We had nothing in common: My grandparents were born here, he was an Italian who emigrated from Ethiopia at 7; I am Jewish, he was exploring eastern meditation; I have a huge family, he had his mother; he was a computer geek, I clearly wasn’t; and our circles of Grinnell friends had no intersection. Borne by chance, in our one-room apartment we formed a deep and lasting friendship.

By college I (like, perhaps, all of us) had learned that everyone has something to offer, that people from other backgrounds could add value to my life. That was clearly an intrinsic value in Grinnell’s ethos. And, yes, I knew it intellectually. But fate and Nick taught me that, at a deep, core level. In addition to a lifelong friendship, I got a lesson that continues to benefit me in my work with the homeless in Chicago.

Throughout his life, we shared joys and challenges. Among my cadre of close friends, Nick stood out, as we were so different. The diversity that was our beginning was also the quality that allowed each of us to bring valued perspectives to each other’s lives. He brought many, including the quiet grace during his fierce battle with cancer that he lost four years ago.

Bruce Crane ’80
Skokie, Ill.
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