  An exuberant, playful man of seemingly inexhaustible vitality, Prior made an excellent teacher. He had no trace of pomposity or pretension. His students appreciated the friendly welcome they would receive at his home, not to mention his relaxed attitude toward the administrative paraphernalia of roll-taking and the like. In those days Canterbury University College was a formal, stuffy place and Prior was a breath of fresh air. Formality made him impatient; and he despised people he called ‘bullshit artists’ and ‘dicky-lickers’. In a milieu where jacket and tie were the norm—even in a sweltering New Zealand summer—Prior would lecture in baggy khaki shorts and roman sandals. His student Jim Wilson recalls the friendly informality of Prior’s first-year classes: