After a brief introduction at La Terrasse, a bar on the University of Pennsylvania’s campus that has since closed, on Sept. 29, 1983, Pamela Ann Dillon spent the next few hours hanging on to Stephen Michael Dillon’s every word.
“I didn’t want the conversation to stop,” said Ms. Dillon, who had just started her master’s program in political science at the school. “He didn’t parrot what he had heard. He exhibited fresh, intellectual thinking.”
Mr. Dillon, then a doctoral student, thought Ms. Dillon was “pretty and very smart.” They made a date for three days later, but she stood him up.
“I knew Stephen was the one, but I was afraid of starting a serious relationship,” said Ms. Dillon, now 60. She grew up in Upper Saddle River, N.J., and also has a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Pennsylvania. She is a founder and the chief executive of Preferabli, the discovery and recommendation software for wine, spirits and food.
