Nineteen years ago this week, in a year when many of the class of 2006 were just opening their eyes to the world, a peculiar and perhaps unexpected facet of an Amherst professor was revealed to the College community. Professor of English William H. Pritchard, better known for close reading and analysis of Shakespeare and Proust than watching the melodramatic, never-ending tales of romance and deceit wound by soap operas, became the instigator of a crusade to prevent his favorite soap, CBS's "Search for Tomorrow," from being cancelled.

Pritchard fought for the show English-professor style, counting on that old adage, the "pen is mightier than the sword," by writing a letter to The Amherst Student. His stand in defense of the soap was noticed by local and, eventually, national papers, and he soon found himself accepting an invitation to be flown to New York, courtesy of the "Search for Tomorrow" staff.

New York was the place to go to become a star of the big-or little-screen, and it seemed, for a brief time, that Prichard just might be heading in that direction. He was invited to be an extra on the show, although he was unsure if he would have any lines. Pritchard reported to The Student that, after "Search for Tomorrow," Hollywood was next on his list.

Apparently he had been watching the soap for the past seven years. He admitted that his addiction had started very early on, when he listened to soaps on the radio as a child before graduating to television. Regardless of his dreams of the dazzling silver screen, Pritchard was still "excited about meeting the cast he [had] seen on television," he told The Student.

His campaign found quite a bit of support, largely of the female variety, and its results were evidently fruitful. It's true that Pritchard admitted that his fascination was "childish." However, his love for this soap opera "sub-art," as he called it, somehow still seems to have become to be a part of him.