This gentleman sounds pretty cool. Almost makes me wish I'd gone to the U (he teaches/taught at the main Minneapolis campus) just so I could've taken his classes, especially being a lifelong geography nut myself.
http://www.startribune.com/at-91-prof-john-fraser-hart-teaches-his-last-class-at-the-u/302370321/
QuoteAsked why he waited until his 90s to retire, he gets a mischievous look in his eyes. "There are some people who should never be in front of a classroom; they really don't enjoy what they're doing," he said. "While I'm having a wonderful time."
Quote"He's a firecracker," said Nicole Mardell, 22, a senior. "The first day he walked in with his bow tie, glasses and walker, and we all kind of wanted him to adopt us as his grandchildren. But then after the first lesson we realized he was sassy and could probably beat you in any argument."
Awesome.
I emailed John Fraser Hart as a possible adviser when I was looking at geography graduate programs a while back. My family is from that part of the country, and Professor Hart is a big name in geography, so I thought the U of M might be a great fit.
He emailed me back something to the effect of "First, thanks for your interest. Your research interests sound intriguing and align with my own. Secondly, traditional geography the way you and I would like to study it is dead at the University of Minnesota. Don't come here."
Needless to say I didn't apply, but I've always appreciated the honest and direct response I got from him, particularly knowing what I do now about geography at the graduate level. I still think it would have been great to study with him though.