[Milton-L] Dr. Albert Labriola

[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




On Mar 13, 2009, at 8:54 AM, srevard at siue.edu wrote:

> 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 a green, unpublished graduate student feel at home.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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>
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