Dr. Donald Buzinkai and this blog editor at my graduation year formal somewhere in Wilkes Barre in May of 1976. I’m thinking it might have been the Legion on River Street but I’m not sure. My date took the photo and to this day I don’t know if it was my camera or her drinks that almost caused Buzzy to be photo shopped out of it even before there was a photo shop. His parting shot as he left was directed at me when he said, “Yonki walk fast to your car tonight after you leave here.” I asked him why and he said “You can get hurt wearing a suit like that”. "BUZZY"
DR. DONALD BUZINKAI
I received news yesterday that a former Professor of mine at King’s College, Dr. Donald Buzinkai passed away. “Buzzy” as he was known to thousands of students was one of the most brilliant academic minds I had ever encountered. His students at first were wary of his sarcasm and demeanor but once you got to know him, you were hooked. Buzinkai demanded excellence from his students. There were no half measures.
It was an urban legend that if you took Buzinkai, you’d get an easy B. So naturally as a person who usually followed the path of least resistance when it came to academics, I took his course. I handed in my first paper on some sort of topic and expected my “B”. Instead, I got back the paper and on the last page the word “Horseshit” was written along with my D. I got the message.
Buzinkai was a tried and true progressive who understood the economy and the students at King’s. He knew that none of our parents were wealthy and treated us accordingly with understanding and respect. In the summer of 1976, I was working a full time job overnights on WVIA FM hosting an all night classical music show. For a grade, I had to take his summer seminar which lasted a week. The class ran from 9 to 3pm. I figured I could handle it because I left work at 8 and would make my way to his class. Since it was summer, Buzinkai decided to have the class in his office which had comfortable chairs and other accouterments befitting his status as a tenured professor. I got through the week until the last day which was a Thursday. Buzinkai began speaking at 9:01am and I fell asleep at 9:02. As the afternoon session started at 1:00Pm, after lunch, I still was out like a light. At about 1:15PM I opened my eyes and Buzinkai said, “Good morning, welcome back” and continued on with the lesson. I asked him when we were adjourned if I needed to make up any work. He said, “No, you worked hard for these years and come a long way from when I first met you. I know your situation and I know that anyone who had full rest could never, ever be bored by anything I had to say”. I nodded my head in agreement and he said, “Yonki, you’ll do fine in life. Just remember the world is nothing but a big King’s College.”
And you know, 36 years out of King’s, I realize that was the most accurate thing anyone ever told me about the world. There are a few of my friends who kept in touch with him. I’d see him once in a while at King’s in the 90s at the gym. To those who saw him recently or years ago, one thing is for sure, no matter how recent our encounters, our mentor and teacher, Dr. Buzinkai never really left us. Never really was out of our minds or our hearts. And when an educator can do that, that’s what people call a legacy.
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