Letters to Marcus Felson

Abstract

Marcus Felson’s academic career began as a sociologist graduating from the University of Chicago and the University of Michigan. He began working at the University of Illinois, moving to the University of Southern California, Rutgers University, and is now at Texas State University, San Marcos. Included in his scores of publications are his well-known books Crime and Nature and the best-selling Crime and Everyday Life, now in its fourth edition. Marcus is best known for the development and application of Routine Activity Theory. In fact, one could argue that his first publication on Routine Activity Theory in 1979 is one of the most significant publications of the 20th century in social science. Here we present letters addressed to Marcus, written by many of the contributors to this volume, that are a testament to his humanity as much as to his professional acumen.