Jerry Fodor
A brilliant, and brilliantly funny, man, but also very human, if otherworldly. A big influence on me (though not in all respects). We used to share bus rides between Manhattan and New Brunswick. Not only did he have a very original mind, he also had a very original personality. It is hard to convey what this originality amounted to but he somehow managed to combine sensitive gentleness with withering intellectual pugnacity. I was extremely fond of him.
We also had sailing adventures in the Hudson river.