Letter: Model for Yoda

Sir: I enjoyed Kevin Jackson's article on "The man who was Yoda" (3 September). Back in the Sixties when I was a minister in New York, several times I drove to Sarah Lawrence College and sat in the back of Joseph Campbell's class.

Years later, when I was a minister in California, I was with a joyful group at Big Sur as we celebrated Joe Campbell's 80th birthday. Campbell's books and Bill Moyer's interviews were the staples of discussion groups in our Unitarian church for a dozen years. But Campbell did not look or act like Yoda. What person is the inspiration for the Star Wars character?

It seems you find the answer at Zen Center of San Francisco. When you look at the painting of the founder, you will find "Yoda without the ears" looking at you in the person of Shinryu Suzuki.