Students Writing 1906-1930

The writing of Larimore “Larry” Foster, Class of 1927, made him famous after his death. The inspirational book Larry was published shortly after he died in a riding accident the summer after his sophomore year, and it became widely popular across the U.S. The bestseller contained selections from Larry’s diary at Lafayette, letters to his family and friends, and nine Freshman English themes written for Tup’s English.

A sweating, grunting, cussing, heaving mass of men twisted and writhed on the ground. Those on the bottom struggled to get their hands on a short pole, and more often succeeded in getting somebody’s foot in their faces. The more fortunate individuals on the outside, heedless of the fact that their weight was slowly but surely crushing those underneath, kept piling higher and faster, until the mass looked like a small volcano “in reverse,” its lava streaming up instead of down its sides.

This was Lafayette! A struggle from beginning to end, yet mixed with greatest pleasure. Lafayette is but a tiny world, and is not life in this world a struggle? For the fight between right and wrong, between self-control and impulse, between duty and pleasure, Lafayette is the battleground and a glorious one!

Larry by Larimore “Larry” Foster, Class of 1927