Mystery Man In White Nikes Haunts Stanford's Campus

Late one spring afternoon last year, a mystery man sat in the back of a creative-writing seminar at Stanford. Evidently a student, he was much older than anyone else in the room. He was wearing a black blazer and white Nikes. He said his name was Phil.

As the days passed, the man's identity gradually came into focus. The instructor 'made several vague allusions to Phil taking off in his private jet,' recalls Andre Lyon, an English major enrolled in the class. And tales about Michael Jordan found their way into the man's literary discourse.

After a couple of weeks, a rumor began to circulate that the old dude in the Nikes was Philip H. Knight, the billionaire founder of the world's largest sportswear company.

The rumor was true. For four decades, Mr. Knight, who is now 69 years old, built the Beaverton, Ore., company into the industry titan while maintaining a personal reputation for seclusion and secrecy. As chief executive, he received visitors in a small conference room, only rarely allowing executives into his inner sanctum. Since leaving the top job in 2004 to be company chairman, Mr. Knight has lowered his profile further, stepping into the public spotlight only when one of his CEO successors was ousted in early 2006.

But it was around that time that Mr. Knight was surfacing anew in the classroom. Though not registered as a student, Mr. Knight has periodically taken classes with Stanford undergraduates over the past three years, swapping homework assignments and even going out with fellow students for a few beers at Palo Alto bars. He has told fellow students that he is writing a novel.

Mr. Knight turned down several interview requests for this story. But a former classmate, Ben Stillman, described his presence in class as Hemingwayesque. Mr. Knight 'doesn't tell long yarns and long stories,' says Mr. Stillman. 'He doesn't reveal too much about himself. But you understand something more is going on underneath.'

Mr. Knight's access to classes may have something to do with his pocketbook. Last year, Mr. Knight announced a $105 million donation to the Stanford Graduate School of Business, from which he graduated in 1962. His previous Stanford donations include a professorship at the business school, a graduate-school building and gifts to the athletic department, according to a university spokeswoman. Mr. Knight got his bachelor's degree from the University of Oregon in 1959, and he makes big donations to Oregon, too.

Mr. Knight's late-career academic journey began a few years ago, after he visited the campus office of Tobias Wolff, a novelist and Stanford English professor. Mr. Knight 'said he wanted to do some writing,' and was looking for advice about where to begin, Mr. Wolff says.

'I suggested he start somewhere at his level of ability,' Mr. Wolff says.

He welcomed Mr. Knight to an entry-level creative-writing class, but in a low-profile manner. 'Let's say there was an effort to make sure students didn't know his identity,' Mr. Wolff recalls.

As Mr. Knight became a regular in various English classes, he rarely tipped his hand. During the spring of 2006, for example, Mr. Knight could be found on campus most Wednesday evenings for 'English 95: Form and Theory of the Novel' -- a 'seminar for creative writers' that was known in the department as 'the novel salon.' The class was taught by a department lecturer named Adam Johnson, who declined to comment for this story. A photo taken during what appears to be the class's opening session shows a packed basement classroom with 15 students; while others smile with notebooks at the ready, Mr. Knight looks away.

Mr. Knight was, however, a full participant in the class. His homework assignments, circulated to classmates, show a candid passion for words. 'Write sensuously. Words have feeling,' he advised in a short essay dated April 25, 2006. 'The simplest use of words can often have the greatest power.' Students in the weekly sessions remember debating Mr. Knight about themes and characters in novels like 'Kiss of the Spider Woman' by Manuel Puig and Edward Schwarzschild's 'Responsible Men.'

Though notably older than his fellow students, Mr. Knight soon became a popular fixture on the Stanford campus, known for hosting after-class gatherings at Palo Alto bars with his wife, Penny, before taking a private jet back to his home outside Portland, Ore. 'He'd always pay,' recalls Mr. Stillman.

The festivities -- some attended by senior professors in the English department -- included little trips to the Stanford Park Hotel and Blue Chalk, a lounge whose Web site invites guests to 'kick back and enjoy a cold beer or one of the signature margaritas.' Mr. Knight even found his way onto online social-networking site Facebook: He appears in a photo posted there, his arms around two undergraduates, with a third student holding what appears to be a drained margarita.

In class, Mr. Knight's fellow students say he was studious and intense. 'I was struck by how confidently he spoke,' says former classmate Amelia Ashton, who said as a student Mr. Knight maintained the 'conviction of a CEO.' 'He liked books with strong male protagonists,' recalls Jasmine Hanifi, who was a junior.

One of Mr. Knight's homework assignments suggested he had a penchant for Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel 'The Sun Also Rises,' about American expatriates, known for its thrilling bullfighting scenes set in Spain. 'Writing 12 drafts and discussing them with Scott Fitzgerald did not hurt this book,' wrote Mr. Knight. 'Love stories are what the public wants more than any other type of story, but they are the most difficult to write. Even for Hemingway.'

But Mr. Knight took exception to the book's unadorned dialogue, prose that he says might have used a bit more narration from Mr. Hemingway's pen. Mr. Knight also seems to disdain Brett Ashley, the book's femme fatale who is 'central to everything,' but 'had nothing endearing about her except her beauty.'

It was during a discussion of 'So Long, See You Tomorrow,' the Midwest murder mystery by William Maxwell, that Mr. Stillman says he learned that Mr. Knight was no beginner to the art of fiction writing. Mr. Knight's wife 'started talking about Phil's own constant struggle to get a novel of his own finished. It had maybe been 20 years,' Mr. Stillman says. At another time, when Mr. Stillman asked Mr. Knight about the book, he says, the chairman said it existed, but wouldn't give any details. He was 'very secret about it,' recalls Mr. Stillman.

Mr. Knight hasn't been seen on campus during the current term, which started in September, says Mr. Wolff, though he didn't rule out the possibility that Mr. Knight would return later in the year. A short walk from the English classrooms, ground will be broken next year for Mr. Knight's latest development on campus, the Knight Management Center. It will include new classrooms, dining facilities and a 600-seat auditorium. At the final session of the Stanford writing seminar, Mr. Knight gave each student a $200 Nike gift certificate, say those who were there.

The novelist Mr. Schwarzschild, who visited one of Mr. Knight's classes, says he is still struck by Mr. Knight's unassuming approach to learning the craft. 'He could easily import someone, fly them up in a helicopter. But he wanted to be part of a true workshop, as an equal. He didn't want to be CEO. He wanted to be Phil Knight, the student.'

去年某个春日的傍晚，一位神秘男子坐到了斯坦福大学某创意写作研习班的后排座位上。他明显一幅学生打扮，但年龄却比班上任何人都要大得多。他穿一件黑色运动夹克，脚蹬白色耐克鞋。他跟别人说自己叫菲尔(Phil)。

随着日子一天天过去，此人的身份越来越成为众人关注的焦点。参加这个班的英语系学生安德烈•里昂(Andre Lyon)说，老师"有几次隐约提到菲尔下课后坐私人飞机离开"。此外，这个菲尔还在自己的文学演讲中还提到了迈克尔•乔丹(Michael Jordan)的传奇经历。

几周之后，传闻开始散播开来：这位穿耐克的老哥其实是耐克这一全球最大运动品牌的创始人、亿万富翁菲利普•H•奈特(Philip H. Knight)。

传言不假。现年69岁的奈特在过去40多年中把这家位于俄勒冈州比弗顿的公司打造成了行业巨头，而他本人则以低调和隐秘闻名。担任首席执行长(CEO)期间，奈特通常在一间小会议室里接待客人，管理人员也很少获准进入他的私人房间。2004年，奈特辞去CEO一职，担任公司董事长，此后他就变得更加低调了，只有2006年年初从他手中接过帅印的CEO被赶走时，奈特才再度走入了公众视线。

大概也就是在辞去CEO的那一年，奈特重新回炉坐在了教室里。在过去三年中，奈特虽然不是注册的学生，但他定期跟斯坦福大学的本科生一起上课，跟其他学生交换作业，甚至一起出去到帕洛阿尔托的酒吧里喝几杯啤酒。他跟同学说，他在写一本小说。

奈特拒绝了几个关于他写作的采访请求。不过据奈特以前的同学本•斯蒂尔曼(Ben Stillman)描述，奈特在班上的表现很"海明威"。"他不喜欢长篇大论，"斯蒂尔曼说。"他不过多透露自己，但你可以看出其实私底下他有很多想法。"

奈特能来上课跟他殷实的荷包可能有点关系。去年，奈特宣布向斯坦福商学院捐献1.05亿美元，而他本人1962年就是从那里毕业的。据大学发言人称，之前奈特多次进行过捐献，其中包括帮商学院增设了一个教授职位、捐建了一幢研究院大楼，并给运动系赠送礼品等。奈特1959年获得了俄勒冈大学的学士学位。他也多次向俄勒冈大学捐过财物。

奈特这个迟来的学术生涯是几年前才开始的。当时，他拜访了小说家、斯坦福大学英语教授托比亚•沃尔夫(Tobias Wolff)的校园办公室。据沃尔夫回忆，奈特"说自己想要写作"，并向他咨询从哪里起步好。

"我建议他从自己现有的能力水平开始，"沃尔夫说。

他以一种低调的方式把奈特介绍进了一个创意写作的入门班。"那时为了不让其他学生知道他的身份，我们费了一番心思。"沃尔夫说。

于是，奈特开始成为各种英语课的常客，但他很少透露自己的情况。例如，2006年春天，周三晚上举行的"英语95：小说的形式和理论"上都能看到奈特的身影，这个创作研讨课被系里称作"小说沙龙"。教授这门课的是系里一位名叫亚当•约翰逊(Adam Johnson)的讲师，他拒绝评价奈特上课一事。有一张照片可能是在这门课开公开课时拍的，照片上是一个坐满人的地下教室，共有15名学生，学生们面带微笑，旁边准备着笔记本，而此时奈特正好把脸转过去。

不过，奈特对这个班的投入却是不打折扣。他的作业被同学们传阅，从中明显看出他对文字的热情。"带着感情来写作，文字是有知觉的，"奈特在日期为2006年4月25日的散文中提出这样的建议。"最平实的语言往往具有最强大的力量。"这些每周都上一次课的学生记得曾跟奈特讨论过一些小说的主题和人物，比如曼纽尔•普伊格(Manuel Puig)的《蜘蛛女之吻》(Kiss of the Spider Woman)和爱德华•舒兹希尔德(Edward Schwarzschild)的《负责的男人》(Responsible Men)。

尽管年纪明显比同学大，但奈特很快就成为了斯坦福校园很受欢迎的人物，大家都知道他喜欢课后和妻子佩妮(Penny)在帕洛阿尔托的酒吧里举办聚会，散了之后才坐私人飞机回到在俄勒冈州波特兰郊外的家。"总是他埋单，"斯蒂尔曼说。

这些活动有的也邀请英语系的资深教授参加，有时会在斯坦福公园酒店和Blue Chalk会馆小聚一会。Blue Chalk的网站邀请客人"放松享用一杯冰啤酒或一瓶玛格丽特酒"。奈特甚至还在交友网Facebook上露面，他在上面贴了一张照片。照片上，他双臂搭在两位大学生的肩膀上，还有一名学生举着一个酒瓶，好像是一瓶喝光了的玛格丽特。

据奈特的同学称，奈特在班上勤勉认真，充满热情。"让我印象最深刻的是，他说话的时候是那么自信，"以前的同学阿米莉亚•阿什顿(Amelia Ashton)说，奈特当学生的时候仍然保持着"CEO的坚决自信"。大三学生贾斯敏·哈尼菲(Jasmine Hanifi)则透露，奈特喜欢男主角是"硬汉"类型的书。

奈特其中一份作业透露出他对海明威1926年的小说《太阳照常升起》情有独钟。这部小说讲的是海外美国人的故事，里面最为人所知的是对激动人心的西班牙斗牛场景的描写。"海明威十二次改写此书，并和斯科特·菲茨杰拉德(Scott Fitzgerald)探讨过他的修改，但这都无损于这本书的魅力，"奈特写道。"人们喜欢看爱情故事，甚于其他任何类型的小说，但爱情小说又是最难写的，这对海明威来说也不例外。"

但奈特不喜欢这本书里朴实无华的对话，他认为对话可能让海明威多费了一些笔墨。奈特似乎也瞧不起女主角布雷特•阿什利(Brett Ashley)，这位"蛇蝎美人""一切以自己为主"，但"除了漂亮，没有什么招人喜欢的地方。"

斯蒂尔曼说，在一次关于威廉•马克斯韦尔(William Maxwell)讲述中西部城镇神秘谋杀案的《再见，明天见》(So Long, See You Tomorrow)的讨论上，他才发现原来奈特在小说写作上并不是新手。"奈特的妻子在会上谈到奈特一直没有停止为自己一部小说收尾的努力，他坚持了可能20年的时间，"斯蒂尔曼说。还有一次，当斯蒂尔德向奈特问起他有关这本书的事情时，奈特表示确有此事，但不透露任何细节。"他很注意保守这个秘密。"

沃尔夫说，9月开学的这个学期没人在校园里看见过奈特，但不排除他年底回来的可能性。在离英语教室几步远的地方，奈特管理中心(Knight Management Center)将于明年破土动工，这也是奈特为校园做出的最新贡献。这个中心将包括新教室、用餐设施和一个600个座位的礼堂。据参加写作研讨会最后一次的活动学生说，奈特给在场的同学们每人赠送了价值200美元的耐克礼品券。

小说家舒兹希尔德有一次来到奈特的课上，被奈特谦逊的学习态度感动了。舒兹希尔德说："其实奈特想请动老师是件很容易的事，用直升飞机把人接来就行了。但他想参加一个真正的工作组，作为其中一个平等的成员。他不想成为一个CEO，他想当菲利普•奈特，一名学生。"
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