The Canada Milton Seminar VII

Saturday 23 April 2011

Featuring speakers:

Thomas N. Corns
(University of Wales, Bangor)
“Paradise Lost: The Making of the First Edition”

Natalie Zemon Davis
(Princeton University and University of Toronto)
“Jerusalem Regained: The Learned Converso Nassy and Jewish Colonization”

John Rogers
(Yale University)
“Contingencies of Justice: Milton, Poetry, and Heresy in an Age of Justification”

Other Speakers include Katherine O. Acheson (Waterloo), Bradin Cormack (Chicago), Jeff Miller (Magdalen College, Oxford), and Elizabeth Hanson (Queen’s University, Canada).

A registration form is available.

For information about the seminar please contact Professor Paul Stevens (English) paul.stevens@utoronto.ca
For registration contact Dr. Stephanie Treloar crrs.vic@utoronto.ca

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

I am writing to invite you to attend our sixth annual Canada Milton Seminar
scheduled to take place at Victoria College at the University of Toronto
on Saturday 15 May 2010. We have a terrific line-up. The plenaries will be given by
David Quint (Yale), Nick McDowell (Exeter), and Maggie Kilgour (McGill), and shorter papers will be given by Tom Roebuck (Magdalen College, Oxford), Katie Larson (Toronto), Maria Zytaruk (Calgary), and Chris Warren (Chicago).

This year there will be music. Toronto’s Musicians in Ordinary will performing a recital of songs by Milton, John Milton Senior, and Henry Lawes before we sit down to dinner at Massey College. We would be delighted if  you decided to join us and spend a spring weekend in Toronto. To register — just fill out the attached form and send it to Stephanie Treloar.

Every Best Wish, Paul

• Canada Milton Seminar VI flyer
• Canada Milton Seminar VI registration form

The William Bennett Gallery announces the opening of its newest show, featuring a collection of 150 exceptional Artist’s Proofs, Rare Prints, Unique Works, and never-before-seen Photographs that provide an intimate view of Salvador Dalí’s surreal universe, including portfolios…

Among the works on display are ten etchings of Paradise Lost Dali created in 1974.  The story does not mention how long the artwork will be on display.

Amidst our shared grief, let me add still another note to the chorus of remembrance for our wonderful colleague.  While we all have a great appreciation for Al’s many and varied contributions to the Milton Society, including his revival of the Milton Variorum, it’s important also to recognize that in the early 1980s he joined the Donne Variorum project as the principal editor of the commentary on the Songs and Sonnets.  These are the poems that have garnered the lion’s share of attention, a prodigious amount of commentary in many different languages.  A consummate organizer, Al recruited a cadre of young scholars to share the work and shrewdly devised a plan for dividing it into manageable segments that would enable all his co-workers to take an active interest in every one of the poems. For over a quarter of century he oversaw this work, taking it upon himself carefully to review every contribution, to integrate the astonishing range of materials into a readable text, and even to do the spadework of those who did not deliver their promised portions.  When we finally have the Variorum for the Songs and Sonnets, this too will be owing above all to AL.

Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 12:56:42 -0700 (PDT)
From: Nancy Charlton

I truly wish I might have known him, but I am quite aware of his formidable contributions to Milton scholarship and Renaissance studies generally.

This morning I had a free hour, and at the suggestions of several, stated in what would be the optative voice in Greek, I have compiled all these tributes into a tidy document. I expect it will grow–indeed, four more came in since I started–but I do have an 11-page document ready to go. Much too long to put into a post, but I’d be glad to attach it to a message upon request.  Perhaps someone who knows the family could send it along to them.

Al Labriola, STTL.

Nancy Charlton
—————————-–

Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 17:53:54 -0500 (GMT-05:00)
From: Diane McColley

I am short of words and aching of heart. Like others, I was encouraged as a novice by Al Labriola, the first editor to accept an article,
and have long enjoyed his gracious warmth, abundant knowledge, and kind attention to the well-being of what he has made the Milton community.
——————————

Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:49:22 -0500
From: Sara van den Berg

Like so many others, I received much kindness and support from Al
Labriola over the years.  He was always at the desk to welcome
everyone to the Milton Society dinners at MLA, and set a warm and
gracious tone for those special gatherings.  I mourn the passing of a
warm, generous, gentle, learned man.

Sara van den Berg
——————————

Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 19:35:55 -0500
From: CHARLES DURHAM

Kris and I were devastated to learn of Al’s death.  He supported both of us in all our endeavors and was a good friend of the Murfreesboro Milton Conference, having served on the panel once and once as the featured speaker.  We last met with him in San Francisco at the Milton Society dinner, when he assured us that he was doing extremely well and planned to be in Mufreesboro in October, if he could work around his reunion with his Vietnam buddies in Georgia.  He was a prince among men and a star in the community of Milton scholars.  We will miss him more than words can say.

Goodbye Al, and Love to Regina and family,

Charley and Kris
——————————

Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 23:11:19 -0400
From: lostatom@aol.com

For those of you who may not be aware, I just wanted to let you know that The Duquesne Duke is also accepting comments to their front page article about Dr. Labriola today.  Thus far, five have been posted.  I hope that Nancy Charlton continues to compile our comments shared here as they are so much a manifestation of the depth and richness of Dr. Al’s life and the impact of this precious gift to humanity as felt by all who have known and loved him.  I believe Regina and the rest of Dr. Labriola’s family would appreciate receiving these, our memories and thoughts.

Someone earlier asked for the location of the official university statement.  I found it at http://www.newsroom.duq.edu.

I have always felt deeply honored to have known Dr. Labriola as professor, scholar, teacher, mentor and friend.  Even though I am still in shock and feel totally inept to grasp the exact words to convey this great loss, I take some consolation in knowing that I am not walking this path of intense and immense grieving alone.  I cherish each and every one of your postings.

Sincerely,
Aleta Konkol
——————————

Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2009 13:55:48 +0900 (KST)
From: Byung-Eun Lee

Dear Miltonists,

I am not sure that I am a right person to write this obituary
notice: Professor Hideyuki Shitaka of Hirosima Women’s Univerity,
Japan, went back his eternal home on Feb. 21.

I received this sad news from Japanese scholars few days ago, and
the obituary of Dr. Labriola reminds me to let you know about his death.

For those who do not know Professor Shitaka well: he was the author
of “Milton’s Idea of the Son in the Shaping of Paradise Lost as a
Christocentric Epic” (Eihosha, Tokyo 1996) and a committee member of
Milton International Symposium. He also was a good friend of the
Association of Milton and Early Modern English Studies of Korea.

As a mourner of Professor Shitaka and Dr. Labriola,

Byung-Eun Lee, Ph.D
English Department
Hansung University, Seoul, Korea
–––––––––––––––––––––

Fri Mar 13 12:04:11 EDT 2009
Kemmer Anderson

Byung-Eun, I have just spent time helping Hyunkee Kim outline and
prepare a paper on the death of Patroclus.

I remember hearing Professor Shitaka’s paper on Saturday morning in
Grenoble and the conversation with John Shawcross and Richard
DuRocher after his paper on Paradise Regained and how to fit Samson
in my curriculum as well as the Son’s stand. What amazes me is the
connectivity we have in this profession that all leads back beyond
what we write and learn from each other and how it connects to our
students who grow into the men and women of their calling. We are
truly graced to be called to this profession and to have such a
beacon as Milton and his mentors Homer and Virgil that we may attempt
to carry light into the darkness. Thanks to all who have taught me
how this blind poet is a hero as we all engage in the process of
teaching the epic to young people.

Kemmer
––––––––––––––––

Thu Mar 12 15:24:04 EDT 2009
Stephen Fallon

Among the many tasks that Al Labriola shouldered in and for the Milton
Society was that of unofficial eulogist.  At MSA dinners he would
speak eloquently of one or another of our number whose journey’s end
was come. He knew himself to sing.  I am sure that many old friends
will strive for the honor of sending Al off at the 2009 dinner, and I
can imagine more than one stepping to the podium.  If only one can
speak, I’m sure that many of us would like to hear from Michael Lieb.

My first encounter with Al, at an MSA dinner in the early 80s,
resembled that of others who have commented today.  Here was a “name,”
an accomplished and established Miltonist, who exerted himself to make
a green, unpublished graduate student feel at home.  One could not
help but sense both his gravity and his kindness.  It took a bit
longer, for me at least, to realize that his pose of unusual formality
contained a healthy dollop of self-deprecating humor.  Al, who could
be the most dryly funny of Miltonists, was capable of sending himself
up.  I’ll never forget his suggestion that we telephone each other
(“we must establish telephonic communication”).  We did not merely
both work at Catholic universities, we were “both employed by Catholic
institutions of higher learning.”  His humor was always good-humored,
and I don’t recall him being less than generous to others.

He was a scholar and a gentleman.

Steve Fallon
––––––––––––––––

Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2009 08:54:04 -0500
From: srevard

I want to second Steve’s suggestion. Of late the eulogies for
Miltonists who passed during the year have been brief.  Al was
the face of the Milton Society and we should honor him in a
special way this year.  If Michael would speak, that would be
a special honor in itself, for he is Thyrsis to Al’s Damon.

Stella Revard
–––––––––––––––––

Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2009 09:59:30 -0500
From: John Rumrich

Stella is right (as usual).  But Al wasn’t just the face of the
Society; he was its marrow.  Many have written touchingly of what a
thoroughly good and artful man he was and remains, as we remember
him.  It is difficult for me to imagine how the Milton Society will
manage without Al, though I must suppose it will.  So long as I’ve
been a member, he’s been the one quietly and generously holding it
together.  Maybe a fitting tribute would be to retire the title of
“secretary.”  Another name can be found for the post that no one is
going to be able to fill in the same deft, droll, and humane manner.

John
––––––––––––––––

Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2009 09:49:44 -0500
From: David Ainsworth

Devastating news for me as well.  “Scholar and a gentleman” was the
first phrase that came to my mind to describe Al as well.  Few will
accomplish so much, and none, I suspect, with greater humility.

For me, Al IS the Milton Society of America.  I first met him when he
was opening speaker for the 2001 MTSU conference.  I was questioning my
choice of career after the 9/11 attacks, wondering if scholarship would
really make the world a better place.  After hearing his talk and
speaking with him afterwards, I was reassured.  For me, Al embodied the
good that scholarship can accomplish in the world.

Generous to a fault (but without the fault), precise, not just mannered
but mannerly, with a markedly wry and dry sense of humor, Al never made
me feel less than a colleague.  Thinking again about his talk at the
last MSA dinner about the Milton Society awards, I can’t help but think
how apt it was that his last speech to us stressed that he saw each of
us as gifted, even if some had not yet received official recognition.
The awards he instituted were not trophies, but gifts.  It takes someone
truly special to think in that way.

I keep searching for Miltonic words but my mind keeps dragging me back
to King Lear instead.  Al’s death is a tragedy for all of us who remain;
his life a triumph he shared with us while he was here.

I can’t help but feel that when we turn to “pastures new,” we’ll find
that Al was there before us.

David
—————————–

Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2009 10:52:36 -0400
From: James Rovira

I’m hoping at some point someone considers a festschrift.

Jim R
—————————-

Fri Mar 13 11:05:35 EDT 2009
Julia Richman

Jim  – a marvelous and profound  “idea”  -  regarding the “festschrift.”

Thanks for sharing.

Julianne Richman
Hamlet of Pt. Clark
Ontario (Canada)
–––––––––––––––––

Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2009 13:50:00 -0400
From: James Rovira

At this point it’d be a Gedenkschrift, wouldn’t it?  It’s an obvious
thing to do, though.  I hope the appropriate person steps forward soon
and starts soliciting material.  It should also include a complete
bibliography of Prof. Labriola’s work and perhaps a list of works
citing his work.

Jim R
——————————

Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2009 13:46:22 -0500
From: Jameela Lares

If anyone goes with this idea, they should realize that Festshriften are no longer being published -qua- Festshcriften.  They need to have a thematic focus like any other edited collection of essays.

Jameela Lares
Professor of English
The University of Southern Mississippi
__________________

Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:56:10 -0400
From: James Rovira

Thanks for pointing this out, Jameela.  Sandy Gourlay’s festschrift
for John Grant might be a useful model:

Prophetic Character: Essays on William Blake in Honor of John E.
Grant. West  Cornwall, CT: Locust Hill Press, 2002.

Very good collection.  Wouldn’t Duquesne UP be willing to do something
like this?  It’d be appropriate.

Jim R
——————————

Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:15:28 -0500
From: Jesse Swan

Apropos festschrift publishing, here’s a recently posted bit, from a
(Christian) editor / publisher:
http://addenda-errata.ivpress.com/2009/03/the_great_festschrift_makeover.php

jesse
______________________

Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2009 16:53:37 -0400
From: “David Urban”

Dear All,

Please let me add my voice to the many sorrowful mourners of Al’s passing.  He was so gracious, so magnanimous, so humble.  I’m having a very hard time right now imagining the Milton scholarly scene without him.  I know I am not alone in saying that I feel such a debt of gratitude to him.

Sincerely,
David

Dr. David Urban
Assistant Professor of English
Calvin College
Grand Rapids, MI 49546
——————————

Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2009 19:56:50 -0400
From: duran0

Dear scholars,

I plan on getting a hold of the article written by Hideyuki Shitaka, whose
works I have never read. Thank you to my unknown colleagues across the world
for telling me of their loss so that I may gain.

Many thanks.

Adios, Angelica Duran
——————————

Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2009 02:50:43 +0000
From: Greg Lowe

My spirits are truly dampened to learn of our loss. I had the opportunity to participate in Dr. Labriola’s NEH Summer Seminar “Paradise Lost and the Contemporary Reader” in the summer of 1990. It was a great time and I had been making plans to drop by western PA to sit in on a session of the seminar that had been planned for this summer. I had been imagining what I would feel in experiencing the joy however briefly of revisiting those old times and then perhaps to arrange a lunch with Dr. Labriola (I can still hear him saying “call me Al”). And then I get this news today and then “…Astonied stood and blank, while horrour chill / Ran through his veins, and all his joints relaxed; / From his slack hand the garland… / Down dropt, and all the faded roses shed: / Speechless he stood and pale,” and I know that “Earth felt the wound; and Nature from her seat, / Sighing through all her works, gave signs of woe…” I expect that Dr Labriola might feel that I overstate here, but !
great loss is great loss whether it be Eve for Adam or Al for all of us.

Greg Lowe
Collins Hill High School
Suwanee, Georgia
––––––––––––––––––––

Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2009 21:28:19 -0700 (PDT)
From: Louise Simons

Deep thanks to all the Milton specialists who have so eloquently expressed my own grateful feelings about Al Labriola. He gave me every chance, he had faith in me. As many have already mentioned, he had the gift of intimacy, and he shared his life with us. He treasured Regina and was proud of her dedication to their family and also to her difficult job as principal of a needy school that she had been specifically and urgently asked to head. Al was happy in his profession. He easily told self-deprecating stories, even as he held positions of great trust and was a scholar of high repute. He calmed my chronic worries about his health. To my email that I hoped he was breathing well, on Wednesday at 10:22 he wrote of his Monday hospital discharge and plans for Friday travel home. He said, “My breathing seems expansive.” Shortly, his life was over. It’s painfully hard to realize he’s gone.

Years ago Al Labriola and Ed Sichi invited me to attend my first Spenser luncheon with them. The night before, the Milton dinner had been sumptuous. The Spenser lunch was cafeteria style. We carried thin paper plates down the line, being served swill from large square metal heating troughs. We sat at long tables and ate carefully, using flimsy plastic knives, forks, and spoons. After the meal, the elderly women who had served carried around black plastic trash bags for us to toss our garbage into. Al’s eyebrows were raised ironically as the women carried off the full bags.

The Spenser speaker stood up. He made a virtue of the luncheon’s informality and said pointedly, “At least we don’t wear three-piece suits, the way they do at the Milton dinner.” On one side of me, Ed’s body gave a jolt. On my other side, Al, in his usual three-piece suit, stiffened. His face turned deep red. The speaker warmed to his topic. Working up a full head of steam, he began to weave from side to side, getting closer and closer to the two heavy candle holders and the lit candles. Finally, he managed to set himself on fire. Of course I was horrified, but at the same time, it was really hard to hold down my giggles and my amazement at the swift retribution.

When we left the luncheon and were walking away, Al turned to me and asked meaningfully, Since I had been at both the Milton dinner and the Spenser luncheon, how would I rate them in comparison to each other. His eyes twinkled. He imitated me carefully stowing my soggy paper plate, still laden with my uneaten lunch, in the garbage bag. Al was thinking primarily of the food because he and the treasurers, year after year, on a tight budget, planned such lovely banquets. I recalled the speeches, droning on and on as it seemed to a new Miltonist, and I thought that for after-meal entertainment, there truly was no comparison.

I loved Al, and I already miss him.

Louise
––––––––––––––

This tribute appeared on the SHAKSPER list on Friday 13 March:

The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 20.0110  Friday, 13 March 2009

From:      Carol Barton
Date:      Thursday, 12 Mar 2009 18:48:05 -0400
Subject:   Loss of Prof. Alabriola

I don’t know if any of you knew him, but tonight the world is diminished by the loss of another incredibly good soul. Al Labriola died Wednesday morning, and will be sadly mourned and missed by all of us fortunate enough to have called him friend, colleague, and teacher.

I have no words with which to mourn his loss, but I feel it deeply and profoundly nonetheless.

The announcement is at http://www.theduquesneduke.com/

Carol Barton, Ph.D.
––––––––––––––

Dear Miltonists,

I am not sure that I am a right person to write this obituary notice: Professor Hideyuki Shitaka of Hirosima Women’s Univerity, Japan, went back his eternal home on Feb. 21.

I received this sad news from Japanese scholars few days ago, and the obituary of Dr. Labriola reminds me to let you know about his death.

For those who do not know Professor Shitaka well: he was the author of “Milton’s Idea of the Son in the Shaping of Paradise Lost as a Christocentric Epic” (Eihosha, Tokyo 1996) and a committee member of Milton International Symposium. He also was a good friend of the Association of Milton and Early Modern English Studies of Korea.

As a mourner of Professor Shitaka and Dr. Labriola,

Byung-Eun Lee, Ph.D
English Department
Hansung University, Seoul, Korea

Professor. Albert Labriola of Duquesne University was one of the foremost Milton scholars in the world. His passing on March 11, 2009 is mourned by all his colleagues. Many have written to the Milton-L discussion list, and several have expressed a desire to compile these tributes for the benefit of his family and friends. This is such a compilation.

I have started with the Digests beginning Wednesday morning, March 11, and used the Digests through Thursday morning, and will add individual messages as they come in. I have trimmed boilerplate and repeated messages, except where clarification is needed and where an earlier message has been quoted. I have removed addresses in email signatures, leaving only name and affiliation, sometimes shortened so pages come out even.
–Nancy Charlton
———————————————————————-

Date: Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:22:30 -0700
From: Aleta Konkol

Hello,

I just received word that Miltonist Dr. Albert Labriola from Duquesne University passed away today unexpectedly.  Although I have not been able to contact the university to confirm that this is true, I received this information from a  friend, a very reliable source who was supposed to defend her dissertation at Duquesne next week with Dr. Labriola.

I have to say that I am almost at a complete loss for words.  Dr. Labriola had a way of bringing Milton into the lives of his students so that I wanted to learn more, so that I wanted to live and breathe and research Milton and Paradise Lost.  I wish I could effectively communicate how much this man impacted so many in regards to Milton and just life in general.  I would love to read any thoughts those on the list would care to share.  My home e-mail address is lostatom[...]. I am writing from the high school where I teach, and unfortunately, I am so saddened that I am not thinking with the clarity that I should at this time.  However, I do want the Milton List  to know.

Sincerely,

Aleta Konkol
——————————

Date: Wed, 11 Mar 2009 22:03:29 -0500
From: Steve Fallon

How unspeakably sad if true!

Steve Fallon
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 2009 22:24:54 -0400
From: leejacobus

Al Labriola was a wonderful man, fine Miltonist, and good friend.? It’s terrible to think of him gone.? Lee Jacobus
——————————

Date: Wed, 11 Mar 2009 22:35:27 -0400
From: “Harold Skulsky”

This is very grim news, and I have yet to come to terms with it. I am at the stage of hoping that it isn’t true. Albert Labriola was a scholar’s scholar – precise, learned, searching, utterly civilized, and full of intellectual integrity. Not the least of his virtues was his generosity to his fellow scholars; I will never forget his encouragement to me in my work, and I am quite sure I am far from alone. I hope a suitable memorial tribute can be organized.
——————————

Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 08:33:34 -0400
From: Angelica Duran

Dear folks,

I have a call in to the Duquesne University English Department. So no need
to flood them with calls. I thought it was prudent NOT to call Al Labriola’s
home number. I will advise the list as soon as I hear from them. Oh, my.

Adios,

Angelica Duran
Associate Professor
English and Comparative Literature
Purdue University
——————————

Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 07:47:02 -0500 (CDT)
From: Carol Barton

I am speechless at this so heart-wrenching news. Heaven has indeed called home another of its own. “Flights of angels sing thee to thy rest,” good soul. Al was one of the kindest and most decent human beings whom it has ever been my pleasure to know, and my heart goes out to Regina and his family.

Carol Barton
——————————

Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 08:51:21 -0400
From: lostatom

The Red Masquers, the Duquesne Theatre group, included an official statement by Duquesne last night in their blog.? As?much as I had hoped that it was not true, I am afraid it is.

Aleta Konkol
________

Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 08:53:32 -0400
From: Angelica Duran

Dear all,

I received a call and the English Department at Duquesne just now which
confirmed that Al Labriola has died.  You can keep updated on information by
looking at the Duquesne University newspaper, The Duke, available at
<http://www.theduquesneduke.com/>. Today¹s edition features a story on Al
Labriola on its front page today.   I am also on a phone call tree and will
update the list as I hear news.

In great sadness…

Adios,

Angelica Duran
Associate Professor
English and Comparative Literature
Purdue University
––––––––––––––––-

From: Carol Barton

I am speechless at this so heart-wrenching news. Heaven has indeed called
home another of its own. “Flights of angels sing thee to thy rest,” good
soul. Al was one of the kindest and most decent human beings whom it has
ever been my pleasure to know, and my heart goes out to Regina and his
family.Carol Barton
——————————

Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 08:12:24 -0500
From: “Campbell, W. Gardner”

This is devastating news and a terrible loss.

I met Al in 1989 in Washington, D.C., at my first Milton Society
banquet. I knew almost no one there. I’d barely started a dissertation.
Al came over to me, shook my hand warmly, introduced himself, and said
“you are most welcome here.” I was deeply moved by his generosity of
spirit and by his evident sincerity. As I learned over the years of his
remarkable erudition, his truly tireless labors on behalf of Milton
studies and the Milton Society of America, and his accomplishments as a
scholar and teacher, I cherished that memory and added many more to it.

There were many, many instances of Al’s brilliance and humanity over the
time I knew him, far too many to enumerate here. Al Labriola is a great
example of what is best in this often fraught profession.

I find this morning that I cannot imagine Milton studies and the Milton
Society without Al there to guide us. I had so much more that I needed
to learn from him.

My condolences to Al’s family, and to us all.

Gardner Campbell
——————————

Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 09:17:30 -0400
From: James Rovira
Subject: Re: [Milton-L] Dr. Albert Labriola

He encouraged me too, and I am grateful to have met him, even if only once.

You will be missed, Prof. Labriola.  Fare thee well.

Jim R
——————————

Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 08:20:16 -0500
From: “Campbell, W. Gardner”

Do you have a URL for that blog?

Thanks,

Gardner

Refers to this message:
The Red Masquers, the Duquesne Theatre group, included an official
statement by Duquesne last night in their blog.  As much as I had hoped
that it was not true, I am afraid it is.

Aleta Konkol
——————————

Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 09:35:43 -0400
From: Ross Leasure

Dear comrades,

Like so many of us, I enjoyed the distinct honor and pleasure of
making Al’s acquaintance over the years, and I am understandably
shocked and deeply saddened by his passing.  I will always remember
him for his extraordinary gentility, his precisely measured diction,
his warmth and humility, and of course his extraordinary contribution
to the field.  I share with all of you a profound sense of grief at
this moment.  Our ranks have taken a devastating blow to be sure.

“At last he rose, and twitched his mantle blue:
Tomorrow to fresh woods and pastures new.”

Sincerely,

Ross
T. Ross Leasure
Dept. of English
Salisbury University
Salisbury MD 21801
—————————-–

Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 09:09:45 -0500
From: “Skerpan-Wheeler, Elizabeth P”

What a loss!  Ever since I met him at my first Milton Society dinner (in 1979), I’ve been honored to know Al.  He was welcoming and kind to everyone, including my former husband, a soldier with no academic background.  Through their conversations I learned of Al’s service in Vietnam, about which he was modest.  I’ll miss him.

Elizabeth Skerpan-Wheeler
——————————

Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 09:11:37 -0500
From: Jameela Lares

Thanks very much, Angelica.  I have been hoping it wasn’t true since last night.  I had been in contact with Al on Milton Society even while he was on vacation in Florida.  In fact, the last e-mail I got from him was yesterday at 5:20 AM, apparently just hours before he died.  He was faithful to the last.

Al was one of the great influences for good in my academic life.  I would much prefer to go on telling him so myself for a while longer, though I imagine that could I speak with him now, he would listen patiently, thank me sincerely and–as ever–ponderously for my good wishes, and then with one of his smiles advise me to read the penultimate verse paragraph of Lycidas, after–of course–having had due time to grieve.

i think my favorite praise of Al was what his encomiast, Michael Lieb, said on the occasion of Al becoming honored scholar of the Milton Society of America:  “He was the man behind the man behind the man.”

Jameela Lares
Professor of English
The University of Southern Mississippi
––––––––––––––––––-

Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 10:16:50 -0400
From: Kemmer Anderson

To the community of secondary school teachers who experienced his
seminar and even the ones applying this year, Al reached out to so
many with his elan. I remember meeting him at the Renaissance
Conference in Dearborn in 1986. Enthusiasm and Encouragement. I hope
I will mentor and encourager what a model…Thanks Al for letting me
deliver my Milton paper at the Congress. What a great host — A
Raphael repast on the ridge; an epic scholar-hero of thumos..  Kemmer
——————————
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 10:32:49 -0400 (EDT)
From: gilliaca

It’s clear from what I’ve been reading that my life is poorer for not having known Dr. Labriola. I hope someone compiles these moving tributes and passes them along to his family.
C
Cynthia A. Gilliatt
English Department, JMU, ret.
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Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 11:22:22 -0400
From: “Creamer, Kevin”

The Duquesne Duke story, “He put the ‘human’ in humanities” can be found here:

http://tinyurl.com/ddf26y

Kevin.
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Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 12:15:45 -0400
From: “CORTHELL, RONALD”

Colleagues,

Like others who have posted responses, I am devastated by this news.  My professional life, as a Donne scholar, wanna-be Miltonist, and, more recently, department chair, was touched at every point by Al’s leadership  and humanity in the Donne Society, Milton Society of America, and ADE.  I will miss him dearly.

Ron Corthell
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Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 11:21:35 -0500
From: Richard Durocher

Dear Angelica and other colleagues and friends,

I have just heard the news of Al’s death and feel his loss deeply, as
many of us do.  I am grateful to Al for more than I can say, but his
irreplaceable combination of kindness, intelligence, and good humor will, I
hope, remain with me and with many as a cherished model.

Angelica and Jameela:  If you hear of funeral arrangements, will you
please send word to the list?  Some of us will do our best to be there, I
imagine, from Minnesota and beyond.

Rich DuRocher
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Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 12:55:54 -0400
From: “Jeffrey Theis”

I know that others on this list had more extensive personal and
professional relationships with Al than I did. That being said, Al
really has greatly shaped my career. To echo other posts, Al combined
his impeccable research and editing skills with a genuine love of people
and our profession.

He published my first scholarly article in MS. The article certainly
was rough around the edges, and he gently and professionally guided my
revisions in a way that welcomed me into the profession. My book is
coming out with Duquesne UP, and I greatly appreciated the excellent,
sensitive reading Al gave my manuscript.

I’ll miss him, and I extend my sympathies to his family and
colleagues.

Jeff Theis
Jeffrey S. Theis
Assistant Professor; Department of English
Salem State College,  Salem, MA 01970-5353
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Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 12:32:59 -0500 (CDT)
From: richard strier

Al was a monument to generosity.  And golden-tongued.  I share the hope that a
suitable tribute can be devised.  Perhaps a prize of some sort (best Milton diss, or
something)?

Very sadly,
RS

Richard Strier
Department of English
University of Chicago
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Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 12:41:37 -0500
From: “Parrish, Paul”

I agree with the many tributes that have been offered to Al.  He was a
rare combination of a gifted scholar and a warm and caring human being,
an elegant and self-assured colleague who took his work seriously
without taking himself too seriously.  He will be missed.

Paul Parrish
Department of English, Texas A&M University
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:55:56 +0100
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From: Asbj?rn Bjornes
Subject: [Milton-L] SV: Milton-L Digest, Vol 28, Issue 6

I miss Dr. Labriola so much. I am out of words right now.

Asbjorn Bjornes, Norway
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Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:13:25 -0400
From: “Julia Richman”

Dear All,

>From across the distance miles. and  like many others who have posted
“glorious praises”  to  honour  Professor Labriola  -

I, as well,  would like to share my condolences to  Professor Lariola’s
family, friends and devoted colleagues.

Even though I never had the honour of meeting Professor Labriola  -  I am
profoundly aware of his renowned accomplishments as a

M. Scholar and as a Teacher.

Also, wishing someone would so beautifully compile the treasured and
profound  tributes to  Dr. Labriola ..  so  they can be passed along to his
family.

“A thing of beauty is a joy forever.”   – John Keats

-Ms. Julianne Richman
Merlin Simex Professional/Spirituality Counseling Srvs.
Hamlet of Pt. Clark
Ontario (Canada)
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Thursday, March 12, 2009
FLANNAGAN, ROY”

He was my roommate in a TA office at the University of Virginia, we both studied under the rigorous eye of Fredson Bowers, and he was one of the most active editors and scholars I have known, remaining in office as dean but not letting up on any other of his duties.  When he assumed the editorship of Milton Studies, I believe that three of Bowers’s students were editing major scholarly journals on Renaissance poets (Barbara Mowat was editing the Shakespeare Quarterly).

Al was always a great organizer of Milton Society dinners–the publisher of the annual booklet, our genial host, and one of the funniest people on his feet that I have ever seen or heard.  He was always quietly behind the scenes, patient and humble in his citizenship.  He also helped organize the very first International Milton Symposium, and he held many large and small conferences at Duquesne (it was nice to hear Annabel Patterson and William B. Hunter skirmishing about whether Milton was Anglican, at one of the Eastern Milton Symposia).

I loved Al dearly, and I am glad he died in harness, with all his faculties around him, at the height of his successes.  We will do the honors for him on the list, in our encomia.

Roy Flannagan
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“Horace Jeffery Hodges”

As a relative newcomer to Milton studies and off in the hinterlands, I also did not know Dr. Labriola, but from the many tributes on this morning’s listserve, I can see that he was not only a great scholar but also well loved in the Milton community of scholars. I am sorry to hear of his passing and offer my condolences to his family and his many friends.

Jeffery Hodges
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Thursday, March 12, 2009
“JBasinger”

When I began memorizing Paradise Lost and was sure that I would persevere and do it all, I began to search for connections in the world of people involved with John Milton.  Al Labriola, as secretary to the Milton Society, was actually the first name I came upon and I at once contacted him.  Lucky me.  Over the past 15 years he responded promptly, warmly and supportively to each of my requests, asking nothing in return.  He treated me, an outsider, as if I were a peer. That I was serious about Paradise Lost was qualification enough.  I can only imagine the sense of loss you who were his peers, fellow professionals and personal friends feel.  As the first person to really say to me, “Yes, what you are doing has value,” I will dedicate my future endeavors to his memory.  Thank you, Al.   John Basinger
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Thursday, March 12, 2009
“Stephen Fallon”

Among the many tasks that Al Labriola shouldered in and for the Milton Society was that of unofficial eulogist.  At MSA dinners he would speak eloquently of one or another of our number whose journey’s end was come. He knew himself to sing.  I am sure that many old friends will strive for the honor of sending Al off at the 2009 dinner, and I can imagine more than one stepping to the podium.  If only one can speak, I’m sure that many of us would like to hear from Michael Lieb.

My first encounter with Al, at an MSA dinner in the early 80s, resembled that of others who have commented today.  Here was a “name,” an accomplished and established Miltonist, who exerted himself to make a green, unpublished graduate student feel at home.  One could not help but sense both his gravity and his kindness.  It took a bit longer, for me at least, to realize that his pose of unusual formality contained a healthy dollop of self-deprecating humor.  Al, who could be the most dryly funny of Miltonists, was capable of sending himself up.  I’ll never forget his suggestion that we telephone each other (“we must establish telephonic communication”).  We did not merely both work at Catholic universities, we were “both employed by Catholic institutions of higher learning.”  His humor was always good-humored, and I don’t recall him being less than generous to others.

He was a scholar and a gentleman.

Steve Fallon
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Thursday, March 12, 2009 12:37 PM
“Jeffrey Shoulson”

I share the deep sense of loss that many have already expressed. And, like many, my memories of Al date back to my first Milton Society dinner when I rather timidly attended as a grad student.  Al greeted me with a warm smile and in his impeccably precise enunciations made sure he got the pronunciation of my last name right before taking me around to introduce me.

Al published my first piece on Milton in Milton Studies and served as one of the readers of my first book manuscript.  It’s hard to imagine attending a Milton event–a panel at MLA, the Milton Society dinner, the International Milton Conference, or the biennial conference in Murfreesboro
–without the warm, collegial, dapper presence of Al Labriola.

I agree with Steve Fallon.  Never was there a man for whom the phrase “scholar and gentleman” was more appropriate.

Jeffrey Shoulson
Jeffrey S. Shoulson, Ph. D.
Associate Professor of English and Judaic Studies, University of Miami
Thursday, March 12, 2009 12:45 PM
“Litpage”

When I was an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh in the early 1970s, Professor Labriola was invited to give a lecture on campus.  It was the first academic presentation I ever attended, and I remember his graciousness (and even his topic!) to this day.  More recently, he was the editor of my contribution to the Donne Variorum, and I could not have asked for anyone more helpful, more patient, and more generous.  Most recently, a colleague and I asked him to contribute the major “capstone” chapter for a handbook on seventeenth-century literature we are just about to send to press.  Despite his illness, his duties as dean, and his many other responsibilities, he submitted his essay well before the deadline, and it was, quite simply, flawless.  His loss is an enormously sad occasion, but his legacy is permanent.  I hope his family can take some comfort in knowing how positively he affected so many lives.

Bob Evans

Al Labriola
Media Credit: Ryan Samanka

We are sorry to report the passing of Al Labriola, Milton scholar and acting dean of the McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts at Duquesne.

The Duquesne Duke has a story.

The English Department at Collins Hill High School in Suwanee, Georgia is sponsoring their 5th annual marathon reading of John Milton’s Paradise Lost on Saturday, March 7 in the media center. It will begin at 9:00 AM and end at approximately 7:30 PM.