The Mysterious $75,000 Inheritance

By Ken Silverstein

Here’s a bizarre story to read before going back to work today. From the Washington Post:

Recently a professor of mine, whom I’d studied with 20 years ago at Bennington College, died. Two weeks afterward, I learned that she had made me the beneficiary of her life insurance policy, leaving me $75,000.

I found this out only because the school where she was then teaching, Phillips Exeter Academy, sent me a letter asking that I fill out “the enclosed form from Prudential.” When I called the administrator who had signed the cover letter, she informed me of my windfall.

This is a true story. For the longest time, I puzzled over it: What in the world motivated her to do it? With no note attached? No explanation? No instructions?