When I heard the news that the beloved religion scholar Huston Smith had died at his home in Berkeley, my mind drifted back to the lively conversations we'd had over the years sitting across from each other in armchairs near the light-filled bay window of his Colusa Street bungalow.
Most of my professional career was spent as the religion reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle. Toward the end of my time covering the “Godbeat,” I lived in my own Berkeley bungalow just a short walk from the home Smith shared with his wife, Kendra. Smith didn't do email, and his hearing impairments made telephone conversations difficult. So when you wanted to interview Professor Smith, even on a tight newspaper deadline, you did it face-to-face.
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