Another email from another prof...

So at a talk a few weeks ago I brought up a ref in the Q&A period that a prof should look into, since he kept saying in regards to this other ref that it was the "only" one known, since he might qualify that minor point.

Afterwards, I hunted down the text, and as a courtesy, I sent it out to other profs in the room.

But, I linked the Wikipedia page, which contained the passage #s (which I see no harm to, b/c I was just sending them a link to the passage #s, as I said in my email).

This German emeritus prof who I've found to have a good sense of humor sent me an email contextualizing the topic, and then said something about when did university students use Wikipedia anyhow, to which I replied and thanked him for his thoughts, and added that I saw no harm in using Google/Wikipedia as an efficient starting point to find a forgotten passing reference in a book, though of course I wouldn't defend any analyses there.

Anyhow, something in his comments made me realize he might be interested in my Coptic paper, so the next week I sent him this email:

Hi Prof. [his name],

Have you ever studied any Coptic? I have an undergraduate background in historical linguistics, and 5 years ago I happened to recognize a major gap in the spelling and pronunciation of Coptic, which gap I'm trying to fill in my spare time. I'm attaching a revised [regional conference] presentation that tries to make the subject accessible and relevant to historians of Early Christianity. The presentation is based on an article that I just found out will be published in [a European journal] in 2012, but it also anticipates larger methodological critiques that I want to make the subject of a second paper. I would appreciate your thoughts if you get a chance to read this.

Hoping you're well,

[my name]

To which he replied -

Hi, [my name],

Thank you for your offer, but I am persuaded that students should not try to publish papers before they have not completed their degrees. Also, foreign editors are often deceived by students because they automatically assume that they in fact have completed their degrees.
Best greetings,
[his name, 1st, middle initial, and last]

- ?????.

He didn't even look at the paper or seem interested in it! I'm very disappointed in him, he is a good scholar with many insights, but I never expected him to be so close-minded. Perhaps it's his Germanness, because I'm stepping outside the expected hierarchical ordering of everything instead of ascending through the ranks?

He also is getting a bit senile sometimes, so that might be it too - or at least part of it, if I'm looking for a charitable excuse for him.