Another Tribute to AL
March 16, 2009
Dayton Haskin writes:
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.
