Winter - Robert K.
Source: Lafayette Journal-Courier 18 Jan 1987 p 26
Crawfordsville – Dr. Robert K. Winter, 100, Wabash College’s oldest alumnus, died in Peking, People’s Republic of China. Winter was a professor of English literature at Peking University. A 1909 graduate of Wabash College, Winter went to China in 1923 and remained to teach Western culture and languages. He received an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters from Wabash in 1984. Wabash Professor Herbert Stern visited him in China to present the doctorate. Born in Crawfordsville Dec 31, 1886, Winter attended Crawfordsville HS and received a master’s degree from Wabash when the liberal arts college for men briefly offered advanced degrees. The college today confers only bachelor of arts degrees. Professor Stern, who is currently in China preparing a biography of Winter said Winter was probably influenced to go to China by poet Ezra Pound, who taught at Wabash when Winter was on campus. “He had an important influence on Winter,” Stern said. Winter has been a friend of many of China’s leading intellectuals. He returned to the US only twice since 1923 and visited Crawfordsville in 1943. - kbz