STEVEN CORBIN REDUX

Some years back, I wrote a brief reminiscence of my friend and writing teacher Steven Corbin.  I've revised and expanded that essay as part of the Los Angeles Review of Books' Writers on Teacher series, and it's now online.  An excerpt:

He looked at me from across the table, realizing that I hadn't yet known (he thought he'd told me already); and he said, "I've shocked you." I remember mumbling something non-committal but before I could absorb the news, Steven began talking with his familiar enthusiasm about how he was confident of his chances of beating it, that he was healthy, his t-cell count was good, that he was going to beat it. I nodded and was supportive but later that day in my journal, I wrote one sentence: "Steven is going to die."