By David Nathan

1) His favorite quote comes from poet Maya Angelou:
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

2) In 2017, he donated stem cells to an anonymous recipient suffering from cancer.

3) He’s a dog guy. He grew up with Frisky, a spaniel setter mix, and Julius, a German shepherd, but has since developed a dog allergy.

4) Eric met his wife, Wanda Whitmore, when they were undergraduates at Harvard. Due to both their names falling at the end of the alphabet, she was assigned to the student employment job that he supervised. They never parted and have been married 41 years.

5) He enjoys many types of music — rock, R&B, jazz, and blues — but is particularly fond of “British Invasion” groups like the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Yes, and Pink Floyd. Other favorite artists include Isaac Hayes, the Temptations, Ohio Players, and Parliament Funkadelic. Family music tastes in gospel, symphonic metal, electronic dance, pop, soul, and country creep into his playlists.

6) Eric and Wanda have four children, two nieces, and a nephew and live in Newton. 

7) Top movies? He has a few: The Godfather, Tombstone, and Unforgiven. His favorite actors are Denzel Washington (in particular, in Devil in a Blue Dress and The Great Debaters) and Jack Nicholson (in Chinatown and As Good as It Gets).

8) One of his Harvard football teammates was Lasell professor Bruce McKinnon.

9) He danced onstage with Diana Ross at one of her concerts.

10) His favorite color has always been blue. Now it’s Lasell blue.