The CEA Forum
Summer/Fall 2006: 35.2
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IN MEMORIAM:
JILL BARNUM
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Although most of Jill's friends and associates knew her as a kind and caring teacher, she was also a fighter when she had to be. She fought hard against the cancer that finally killed her, nearly always optimistic in spirit and upbeat in tone as she tried one treatment after another with varying degrees of hope expressed by her doctors. Jill was an incredible person because she accomplished so much and always with grace. If she ever said a harsh word about anyone, I never heard it, and now that I think of it, I don't believe I ever heard her say a harsh word at all. For all who knew her, she was kindness personified, always gentle in her relations with people, one reason among many that she was elected to leadership positions in the CEA and the Melville Society. As a scholar, too, she enjoyed working with people rather than isolating herself in an ivory tower. Her Encyclopedia of American Literature of the Sea and the Great Lakes will become a standard resource for students of maritime writing if it is not one already, and her Literature and the Sea programs at the annual CEA conferences have been much appreciated by the membership for many years. The teaching award from her university that she cherished at the end of her life was fully deserved, but she should have received it much earlier. Caring and compassionate in the classroom as well as outside of it, Jill used her imagination well in developing interdisciplinary classes that engaged her students as well as informed them. I remember her telling me of experiences she had when she led groups of students abroad, the last one, I believe, to Viet Nam. Whenever I spoke with her or heard from her about such experiences, her spirits were high. I was fortunate to have had a place within her circle of colleagues and friends, and so were we all. Jill is part of the history of our Association, and those of us who knew her well will miss her dearly as we continue with our meetings and programs, but without her quiet voice and helping hand.
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Sandy Marovitz is a professor emeritus at Kent State, where he received the Distinguished Teaching Award in 1985 and the President's Medal in 1999. His major areas of professional interest are in American literature, especially that of the 19th century. A former president of the Melville Society, Sandy worked with Jill in that organization for many years and, on her request, assisted her as its executive secretary during her final illness. He also collaborated with her occasionally on panels at the annual CEA conferences. Currently, he edits The Howellsian, newsletter of the William Dean Howells Society. In addition to his research interests, he has taught in Greece under the Fulbright Program, in Japan as a visiting professor at Shimane University, and served as Chair of the English Department at Kent State.
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