The Blog is Back

Now that the summer is fast coming to an end, and fall semester duties loom, I'm returning to the blog. I'm not sure why I've neglected it for lo these many months; perhaps it's inertia, for which my BlogMother, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, would surely rap my knuckles. There's a lot to catch up on. I'll try to post at least weekly with news and comments relating to English department doings. To any of you who have tried to log in and been frustrated by the lack of news, I apologize. But expect several entries to crop up soon, including graduation pics and the introduction of Esther Jones, our African-American specialist and newest member of the department.
I was finally able to publish, though, the announcement I wrote a couple of weeks ago about Bill Tapply's death. Rest in peace, Bill.

--Jay

Bill Tapply: In Memoriam

Bill Tapply died Tuesday, July 28th of complications from his leukemia. It is a tragedy for the English department and Clark University as a whole. Here are the tributes from the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald. [Note: The Herald obituary has been archived and is not available without subscription.] Here, as well, are two blogs which announced it, blogs on which you may enter a comment if you wish, or see the comments made by others: a fishing publication site and a mystery writer's blog, Confessions of an idiosyncratic Mind (See July 29). His death is doubly tragic given his summer solstice "message" to us all from his own website: He was clearly feeling better and looking forward to more fly fishing and vacation time before the start of school, as well as the start of a new semester.
I will miss him tremendously, and I know you all will too. Please join me in condolences, prayers and support for his family.

--Jay