With office space at a premium in Old Main, it’s not unusual for faculty to double up. But the creative writing department’s Nick Regiacorte and Sherwood Kiraly ’72 have an especially enduring relationship as officemates, one that so far spans five years and two floors. (They started out in OM 217 before moving up to OM 303 a few years ago.) With both regularly meeting with students, you’d imagine it can get a little loud. Instead, Kiraly says, “We’re quite comfortable. It’s remarkable to me how I can have my conversation, and he can have his, and there’s no real sense of cacophony.” Regiacorte agrees. “Sherwood and I have always had a good sense for what each other needs, in terms of space and quiet.” It’s not all business. The two often chat about teaching, about reading, about their kids. They also play the occasional game of catch between their desks. “So far, no broken windows and no permanent injuries,” reports Regiacorte. Welcome to their office.

Photo by Peter Bailey '74

With office space at a premium in Old Main, it’s not unusual for faculty to double up. But the creative writing department’s Nick Regiacorte and Sherwood Kiraly ’72 have an especially enduring relationship as officemates, one that so far spans five years and two floors. (They started out in OM 217 before moving up to OM 303 a few years ago.) With both regularly meeting with students, you’d imagine it can get a little loud. Instead, Kiraly says, “We’re quite comfortable. It’s remarkable to me how I can have my conversation, and he can have his, and there’s no real sense of cacophony.” Regiacorte agrees. “Sherwood and I have always had a good sense for what each other needs, in terms of space and quiet.” It’s not all business. The two often chat about teaching, about reading, about their kids. They also play the occasional game of catch between their desks. “So far, no broken windows and no permanent injuries,” reports Regiacorte. Welcome to their office.

Photo by Peter Bailey '74

1. Sherwood’s Webster’s Second International Dictionary. “A herculean attempt to make sense of the world and of ourselves. It deserves respect. It's also a big cool looking book.

Photo by Peter Bailey '74

2. Sherwood’s The Home Book of Quotations. “I like to trace sayings back through their permutations, especially the ones I thought I’d discovered all by myself.”

Photo by Peter Bailey '74

3. Sherwood Kiraly: “I like Nick, I like talking to him, I like playing catch with him, and I love how patient he is with all the questions I ask him.”

Photo by Peter Bailey '74

4. Sherwood’s photo: “Me and Booker (his dog), a couple of summers ago. I’m on the way (June 2017) to get him again from Katie’s mom, Patti Jo, in Utah. We do it every summer, and then she comes and gets him in October—although this will probably be his last go-round. He’s 14 or 15 and will have to make the trip in a diaper this time.”

Photo by Peter Bailey '74

5. Sherwood’s photo: “Me and my daughter, Katie, with Matthew Broderick, during the filming of Diminished Capacity.”

Photo by Peter Bailey '74

6. More of Sherwood’s photos, left to right: “Actors Forbes Riley and Finn Curtin in an LA Times photograph after the opening of my play Who’s Hot/Who’s Not in 2001; Ed Helms and me after Commencement and just before I drove him to the airport; a cartoon of the 1940s writer-director Preston Sturges, given to me by a student who I introduced to Sturges’ work.”

Photo by Peter Bailey '74

7. Nick’s bike. Too nice to leave outside, he carries it up two flights of stairs to the office.

Photo by Peter Bailey '74

8. Space for a painting by Professor Lynette Lombard. “I got it from her several years ago, but I never received it.” (This photo was taken in June; the painting has since been hung!)

Photo by Peter Bailey '74

9. Nick’s license plate and map of Maine, where he grew up.

Photo by Peter Bailey '74

10. Nick Regiacorte: “Sherwood’s part of the office looks great. But my bookcases are half-empty, as I keep the bulk of my books at home.

Photo by Peter Bailey '74

"The church pew (11) is nice, I guess, but my desk is full of papers.”—Nick Regiacorte

Photo by Peter Bailey '74

12. Nick’s green rubber ball. “I throw it against the wall when I want to talk to Monica [Berlin, who has the office next door].”

Photo by Peter Bailey '74

13. Nick’s family photos.

Photo by Peter Bailey '74