Letter: 'Martin Dent's eccentricities ought not to be lost with his passing'

Martin Dent taught at Keele University while I was a student there from 1967 until 1972. One or two of his eccentricities, still vivid in my mind, ought not be lost with his passing. When his phone rang, he would proclaim, "Dent here!" and then pick up the phone. Because he didn't know about alarm clocks with repeaters, he had three alarm clocks side-by-side next to his bed, set a few minutes apart.

On one occasion, I was driving on campus behind a slightly battered Rover. The car was elderly, and when it met the speed bump up ahead, both of its rear passenger doors flew open, and a lamb emerged from each side of the car. Soon afterwards, a human emerged from the front. It was Dent, the Old Etonian who read Greek and Latin for relaxation, and told war stories about his time in Nigeria for fun. And now he had lambs on his hands.