Gifted. Intellectual. Passionate.
These were some of the words history graduate student James Saporito's friends and colleagues used to describe him yesterday afternoon, at his memorial service in College Hall.
Both Saporito and his mother, Patrina, were murdered in her New Orleans home earlier this month. Firefighters found their bodies after extinguishing a fire in the apartment. Both had died from multiple stab wounds. Saporito was 38.
"This was an extremely talented person," said History Professor Warren Breckman, Saporito's adviser, whose voice choked up during his speech. Breckman added that Saporito was "an exceptionally gifted teacher."
Several speakers highlighted Saporito's outstanding qualities to the approximately 40 faculty and students in attendance.
Those who knew him repeatedly pointed to his great intellectual ability that made him a fascinating conversationalist.
"Thinking gave him pleasure -- he had a quality that I like to call mental overdrive," History Professor Lynn Lees said.
"All conversations and encounters were fun."
In addition to his intellectualism, friends also remembered his wry sense of humor and the diverse talents with which he often entertained them.
"Nothing James did was ever in moderation," said history graduate student Lauren Nauta, who broke into tears towards the end of her remarks.
He was "a very gifted actor, especially in female roles... he brought aspects of [the] theatrical and comedic into everyday life."
Mourners said they found Saporito's manner of infusing his intellect into all that he did remarkable.
"He was all the time laid back, all the time intellectual," history graduate student Mate Tokic said, which gave him "a completeness of outlook on life."
"He could bring life into any situation," he added.
Students read from Saporito's e-mails, which illustrated his well-developed opinions on everything ranging from politics to food.
The verbose and highly detailed e-mails displayed what Tokic called a "remarkable display of rhetoric," and a depth of knowledge Nauta labeled "amazingly expansive."
Several of these e-mails came from Paris, where Saporito had spent a year doing research for his dissertation. That was his first time in Europe, and several people said he soon molded himself into a "Parisian intellectual."
"He saw himself as participating in... the radical debates he studied," Lees said. Nauta said that he would spend a great deal of time in cafes, absorbing the Paris atmosphere and reading books.
"I take some real comfort in the knowledge that he was happy in what would be the last year of his life," Nauta said.
Saporito was working towards a Ph.D. in modern European intellectual history with the intention of becoming a professor, and had worked as a history teaching assistant. Quotes from TA evaluations read by Mercer evidenced his aptitude.
"Eighty percent of the time, [Saporito's] digressions are more interesting than the material," read one student's evaluation. "Inspired, energetic and down-to-earth ranting," read another. "Stay cool!" was the best advice one student could offer.
To those who knew him -- and even those who did not -- Saporito's death will leave a gaping hole in their lives.
"He touched us deeply, added a great spark," Breckman said. "His loss is irreparable and inconsolable."
"He made the History Department a much richer community," Lees said.
Mourners felt the service appropriately honored Saporito.
"It's important to get various persons' memories of James," Mercer said. "Those who didn't know James can come away with an indelible memory."
In his closing remarks, History Chairman Jonathan Steinberg noted that he was sorry that he had never met Saporito.
"This was a remarkable tribute to James.... He's written his own memorial service."
