Moreover, as McLuhan admitted himself, he was a poor listener, and often carried on monologues rather than genuine conversations.
McLuhan, however, found important allies among the faculty, chiefly a fellow English professor named Claude Bissell. Bissell, who later became president of the university, backed McLuhan when he sought, successfully, to establish a Centre for Culture and Technology—a kind of one-man think tank, under his directorship—in 1963. McLuhan, while antagonizing, from time to time, some of the Basilian priests who ran St. Michael’s College, also found enough sympathy there that he was basically left alone. As for his students, many of them loved McLuhan for the wit and intellectual stimulation he provided, but others were disturbed because he was more interested in talking about
