Vivek Chibber, Michael Burawoy, and David Calnitsky have expressed better than I can what Erik Olin Wright brought to Marxism, and to his life: his relentless curiosity and enthusiasm for new ideas, paired with an enduring set of ethical and political commitments; his infectious love of life and the generosity and joy with which he shared it. I only want to add a few things.

First, an anecdote. Erik was in possession of an unusual resource: a position as director of a center (the A. E. Havens Center for the Study of Social Change) that had money to bring in guest speakers and put on events. Energetic and intellectually voracious as he was, he brought in a regular series of guests, each directed to lead a punishing schedule of two lectures and an informal seminar.

One year, a group of grad students in Erik’s sociology department at Wisconsin decided that we wanted to make use of Erik’s resource to hold a year-long “Socialism Series” of events with outside speakers that we would choose. We met several times and argued amongst ourselves over who to bring, and then brought Erik a proposal for eight speakers — a number that would dominate the center’s activities for a full year.