This is a summary of a conversation with Steve Duffy, 1977, by current student, “The Eight.”
Steve Duffy arrived at Antioch College in the summer of 1967. He stayed on after graduation, working in the library. “it’s like one day at a time, next thing you know, it’s two or three decades later…. I had more fun than I knew what to do with.” 48 years at the College. Most of it, he worked in the library. When the college closed down for five years, he worked at the fundraiser. He knew so many people. Barbara Winslow gave the college a couple million dollars. “And we decided to fight with the university to get the campus back.” After the college reopened, “I went back to the job at the library. ..I was the first person you saw when you came in the building.” “And then at the very end, I was hired as a special assistant or consultant because I knew so many people. And it was during Covid, so I was able to work from my bedroom on a computer and just talk to alums. I used Facebook as a working tool. I probably had 2,000 friends who were all Antiochians.
Two years ago, Duffy had a stroke. He went through six months of physical therapy and speech therapy and still has a little aphasia, which means he can’t always find the words. Which is ironic since he used to write the Buffalo Grazing column for the Antiochian. It covered campus events. [Editor’s note: The Technology and Communications Committee is working on making previous issues of the Buffalo Grazing and Songs from the Stacks available again.] He’s eager to be “able to do what I used to do.” For now, you may run into him on campus going to hear his partner James singing in the World Choir in the Foundry Theater. Here’s a photo so you’ll be able to recognize him, though the tie-died shirts are a key.