[Milton-L] in memoriam

[Jason Kerr]

Although I only interacted with Al briefly, I like so many others can speak
to his generosity of spirit. My brief experience seems to have been typical
in showing Al kindly reaching out to a neophyte Miltonist. I went to MLA a
few years ago as a second-year doctoral student, and after one of the
general Milton sessions Al must've seen me looking like a duck out of water,
so he took me aside for a few minutes, introduced himself, and asked about
my (as-yet-nonexistent) work, which he nevertheless gently encouraged. I
recognized his name of course, as the person to whom I had addressed my
Milton Society dues, and I wondered then why someone of his stature should
care about me. Having read the flood of tributes on this list, I don't
wonder any more. May he rest in the same state of beneficence to which he so
largely contributed while he lived.

Jason A. Kerr
Boston College

2009/3/18 Schwartz, Louis <lschwart at richmond.edu>

>  I’d also like to add my voice in tribute to Al Labriola’s gracious and
> humane contributions to the profession.  Al accepted an early essay of mine
> to *Milton Studies* back in the early ‘90’s, and I have never had an essay
> handled with such sensitive and precise care.  His touch as an editor was
> light, but exacting, and I learned a great deal from both the substance and
> the manner of his comments.  He improved the essay by helping my own prose
> style realize itself more firmly.  That essay will finally be coming out as
> a book chapter this spring, and while parts have been extensively revised to
> accommodate new arguments, the core of it—whole stretches—still bear the
> mark of Al’s editorial hand.  They couldn’t be further improved once he had
> improved them.   He was supportive of my career in many ways after that, not
> just in directly, but perhaps more importantly in the way he helped make our
> particular corner of the profession a place both rigorous and generous.  The
> work, under his labor grew.
>
>
>
> Louis Schwartz
>
>
>
> ===========================
>
> Louis Schwartz
>
> Associate Professor of English
>
> University of Richmond
>
> Richmond, VA  23173
>
> (804) 289-8315
>
> lschwart at richmond.edu
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Milton-L mailing list
> Milton-L at lists.richmond.edu
> Manage your list membership and access list archives at
> http://lists.richmond.edu/mailman/listinfo/milton-l
>
> Milton-L web site: http://johnmilton.org/
>



-- 
The purpose of poetry is to remind us
how difficult it is to remain just one person,
for our house is open, there are no keys in the doors,
and invisible guests come in and out at will.

          —Czeslaw Milosz, from "Ars Poetica?"
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.richmond.edu/pipermail/milton-l/attachments/20090318/5e8174c2/attachment.html