Professor of Anthropology Emeritus Douglas Raybeck responsed to a Chronicle of Higher Education commentary, “Springsteen, U2, Rod Serling, and Robin Hood," with a letter to the editor that appeared in the Nov. 1 issue.

Addressing the “collation of celebrity-based conferences that seem to reveal a rather plaintive theme,” Raybeck said,“I think we miss the genuine performers -- you know, the real three-dimensional people who had complex personalities and a few warts not wholly covered by their PR makeup. … They made a deep and lasting impact on all of us, and they still seem to be doing so. … What we now lament is the ascendance of manufactured performers.