'He contributed so much more'

I had the honor of being managing editor under Larry, and like everyone else, his passing has stirred very deep emotions. As I wrote to a friend recently, this has been like losing a father. The sadness we all feel is a reflection of how many memories we all have of this amazing, once-in-a-lifetime character named Larry DuPraz.

Larry “retired” in 1987, just as I was retiring from the editorship. We decided to surprise him with a special 4-page insert, much of which was later reprinted in the Alumni Weekly. With the help of Brian, we somehow managed to get it done without Larry knowing about it.

That night we could tell that Larry was a little upset about only getting a small box on the front page announcing that this was his last paper. Right before we shot the front page, we inserted a different box that said to look inside for a special insert. We told Larry that he should go to the Packet with us to watch the last paper roll off the press.

The highlight of my 4 years at Princeton was watching Larry pick the paper off the press run, and look inside to find comments from the governor, Frank Deford, etc. The story about Larry’s life even surprised him with the fact that Claudia was pregnant with his fourth grandchild. (What a good sport she was to play along.)

That moment is memorialized in the drawing of Larry on the Prince website. I believe it is time to name the ‘Prince’ building on University Place Larry DuPraz Hall. Although he might not have contributed the millions of dollars that usually gets your name on a building, he contributed so much more.

Thanks Larry.

— Andy Schneider ’87, managing editor emeritus