[Milton-L] Dr. Albert Labriola

[srevard at siue.edu]

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

Quoting Stephen Fallon <sfallon at nd.edu>:

> 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 a green, unpublished graduate student feel at home.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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