Sir Kenneth Dover, classicist who wished to kill colleague, dies at 89
Sir Kenneth Dover, a distinguished historian of Greek culture who gained wider fame by admitting his wish to kill a troublesome colleague, has died at 89....
Dover shockingly admitted his loathing for Trevor Aston, a fellow historian at Corpus Christi College in Oxford University, in his 1994 autobiography, "Marginal Comment." Aston, according to Dover, had become an embarrassment because of his drunken and irrational behavior.
"It was clear to me that Trevor and the college must somehow be separated, and my problem was one which I feel compelled to define with brutal candor: how to kill him without getting into trouble," wrote Dover, who was president of Corpus Christi at the time of Aston's death.
Aston died from a drug overdose in October 1985 on the day he was notified of divorce proceedings by his second wife, and several days after a heated confrontation with Dover. There was no evidence that Dover had any role in the death.
Would Dover have tried to kill Aston had he not committed suicide?
"Oh no, no no," Dover told The Associated Press in 1994.
"Well, I think it just wasn't practicable," he said....
Read entire article at AP
Dover shockingly admitted his loathing for Trevor Aston, a fellow historian at Corpus Christi College in Oxford University, in his 1994 autobiography, "Marginal Comment." Aston, according to Dover, had become an embarrassment because of his drunken and irrational behavior.
"It was clear to me that Trevor and the college must somehow be separated, and my problem was one which I feel compelled to define with brutal candor: how to kill him without getting into trouble," wrote Dover, who was president of Corpus Christi at the time of Aston's death.
Aston died from a drug overdose in October 1985 on the day he was notified of divorce proceedings by his second wife, and several days after a heated confrontation with Dover. There was no evidence that Dover had any role in the death.
Would Dover have tried to kill Aston had he not committed suicide?
"Oh no, no no," Dover told The Associated Press in 1994.
"Well, I think it just wasn't practicable," he said....