He was sitting on that side of the table and he 
looked at me with genuine surprise. McLuhan never 
personalized his contact with anybody. Very few 
times do I remember when he actually noticed me 
as me. I was just another student. But he did look 
at me at that time and he said “Wow, you know my 
stuff!” And I said “Oh, I don’t claim that at all, you 
know. Can I suggest an alternative for this, this is 
what I am saying.”

He had a regal, another regal gesture. He turned to 
his collaborator on the book at that time, Barry 
Nevitt, and he said to Barry, “From now on de 
Kerckhove will be our translator.” It was like being