In remembrance

My apologies. This is going to ramble.

From the Lexington Herald-Leader:

CHARLEY Nancy Jean, 52, of Lexington, KY, died Tue, Oct 21, 2008 in Cincinnati, OH. Born in LaCrosse, WI, she was the daughter of Muriel Charley of Lexington and the late Peter Stuart Charley. Ms. Charley was a graduate of Midway College and a clinical analyst for Shriner's Hospital. She was a Kentucky Colonel, a volunteer at the Kentucky Horse Park, and a member of Gethsemane Lutheran Church. Survivors other than her mother include a sister, Patricia Charley (Mark) Balkan, Oakland, CA; a brother, David Charley, of northern KY; three nieces, Anika Balkan, Samantha Charley, and Megan Charley; and Sophie. Funeral services will be noon Fri at Gethsemane Lutheran Church by Pastor Joe Trester. Burial will follow in Lexington Cemetery. Visitation will be 5-8pm Thu at Kerr Brothers Funeral Home, Harrodsburg Rd. Memorial contributions are suggested to Shriner's Hospital, 1900 Richmond Rd, Lex, KY 40502 or The Kentucky Horse Park, ATTN: Foundation, 4089 Iron Works Pkwy. Lex, KY 40511.

I couldn't go to the visitation since I worked tonight. I doubt I can make it to the funeral, as it's in the middle of the workday. But I can light a candle for Nancy. They had grief counselors in from Hospice today, and a memorial video was playing in the room, but I got choked up just going near it, so I went ahead and left since I was heading to an appointment anyway. Maybe I'll try to watch it tomorrow.

I did find out that all indications were that she died in her sleep. That's somewhat comforting, anyway.

I wonder if a Lutheran would mind a Pagan saying prayers for her soul? Somehow I don't think Nancy would mind.

Good night. And remember, each day should be lived as if it were your last, because it may be. I have a hard time putting that into practice, like most people, I suppose. But I try not to allow spats or hurtful words fester overnight for that reason.

The deaths of others help remind us how fragile, short, and tenuous life can be, and make us respect and cherish it all the more. It forces us to contemplate our own mortality, to ask how well we are prepared to die, to go on to the next step in our soul's evolution, if things are as I believe. If you believe in the Christian world-view, death should be a time of joy.

In my own belief system the soul is released from the body, which allows it to join with the World-Soul, as the Platonists would put it, or to reincarnate into another existence to learn more life lessons. All we can do when put upon this Earth is to leave it better than we found it, something I think Nancy did well.

Perhaps whatever lessons she needed to learn she had done so, and it was time to move on. I don't know. But I will miss her, but I can't feel too sad, either, for death is a transition to a new state of being, and in most belief systems, that transition will lead to new horizons. I just wish I'd stop crying whenever I think of her. I mean, it shouldn't be sad, right? Not according to my beliefs. I should be happy for her. I guess the sadness is for me and for the others she touched. So maybe I should acknowledge it, but let the sadness go, and celebrate her life, the good memories, and thank her for the opportunity to know her. Because wherever you are, Nancy, you really helped me understand what it means to be alive. Thank you.

RIP

The New York Times obituary:

Hill, Dorothy R. - passed away on September 4 after a long illness.
Noted medical librarian and co-author of the Brandon/Hill Selected Lists
of Books and Journals for the Small Medical Library; Nursing; and Allied
Health, her work influenced the development of medical library
collections worldwide. Daughter of the late Arthur T. and Ruth Hill,
Dorothy received numerous awards for her work with medical libraries and
had a long career building medical library collections at the University
of Kentucky, Johns Hopkins, and Mount Sinai School of Medicine where she
spent the last 33 years of her career. A gathering in her honor will be
held on Friday, September 12 at 11:00 am at Frank E. Campbell, 1076
Madison Avenue at 81st Street. Interment will be Saturday, September 13
in Springfield, MA.

Requiescat in pace

Allen Ross Scaife, 47, Professor of Classics at the University of Kentucky, died of cancer on March 15, at his home in Lexington, KY. Ross was born in Fredericksburg, VA on March 31, 1960. He graduated from the Tilton School in Tilton, NH in 1978 and from the College of William and Mary in 1982 with a major in Classics and Philosophy. He earned a PhD in 1990 in Classical Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. In 1988 he participated in the summer program at the American Academy in Rome, and in 1985 was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship for a year of study at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, Greece.

From 1991 to the time of his death, Ross was on the faculty at the University of Kentucky in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Literature, and Cultures where he taught courses on women in the ancient world, Greek art, Aristophanes, and the Greek historians, as well as Greek and Latin language courses. A pioneer in using computer technology to advance scholarship in the humanities, Ross was the founding editor of the Stoa Consortium for Electronic Publication in the Humanities. The Stoa (www.stoa.org/), established in 1997, set the standard for Open Access publication of digital humanities work in the classics, serving as an umbrella project for many diverse projects not supported by print publishers. He was the co-creator of Diotima: Materials for the Study of Women and Gender in the Ancient World and of the Neo-Latin Colloquia collection. Ross had a long-standing belief in the power of collaborative work, and he worked throughout his career to build working relationships among an international circle of collaborators. As a founding editor of the Suda On Line, a web accessible database for work on Byzantine Greek lexicography, Ross helped to build a framework that allowed a large number of people to work together on a single edition. Ross had long-term associations with Harvard's Center for Hellenic Studies, the Perseus Project, and the Digital Classicist. Most recently, Ross was instrumental in forging the collaboration that resulted in the high resolution digital imaging of the Venetus A, a 10th century manuscript of the Iliad located at the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice, and was an initiator in the project EDUCE, which aims to use non-invasive, volumetric scanning technologies for virtually "unwrapping" and visualizing ancient papyrus scrolls.

Since July, 2005 Ross has been the director of the Collaboratory for Research in Computing for Humanities, a research unit at the University of Kentucky which provides technical assistance to faculty who wish to undertake humanities computing projects, and to encourage and support inter-disciplinary partnerships between faculty at UKY and researchers around the world. Ross was highly involved in the activities of his family. He was a strong advocate of Latin study at the secondary level through support of his wife and Latin teacher Cathy Edwards Scaife, by providing enrichment resources, facilitating technology projects, and giving presentations at professional and student conferences.

He took pride in the academic, athletic, and musical achievements of his three sons, Lincoln (16), Adrian (13), and Russell (9). He loved to watch them play soccer, and to go sailing with them and the rest of his family in the Northern Neck of Virginia. He enjoyed hunting in Anderson County, KY, renovation and woodworking projects in their historic Lexington home, cooking ethnic foods, and photography.

In addition to his wife and children, Ross is survived by his parents, William and Sylvia Scaife of Fredericksburg, VA., and three siblings, Bill Scaife, Susan Duerksen, and John Scaife, as well as their spouses and children. A celebration of life service will be held on Sat, April 12, 2008 at 1pm at Memorial Hall at the University of Kentucky. Memorial donations may be made to the Swift/Longacre Scholarship Fund which provides support for students of classical studies at the University of Kentucky. Please make checks payable to the University of Kentucky and send in care of Dr. Jane Phillips, Department of MCLLC, 1055 Patterson Office Tower, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0027. Donations may also be sent to a college fund for his sons. Make checks payable to Scaife Scholarship Fund and mail to Chase, 727 E. Euclid Avenue, Lexington, KY, 40502. Arrangements by Care Cremation Service.

Published in the Lexington Herald-Leader on 3/23/2008.

Dr Scaife taught me classes in Greek language, the art of Greece and Rome, and women in the classical world. He encouraged me to seek a master's in Classics in addition to my undergraduate studies, and although I did not go on to get the higher degree, I sometimes think about going back to do just that.

I can't believe he's dead. A friend who gets the Sunday paper told YKWIA and me about it, since we were both Classics majors.

He was only seven years older than I am. It gives you pause when someone you know--and who is not much older--dies, bringing you a little closer to your own mortality.

My deepest sympathy is with his family at this time. The obituary's length says a lot about the lives he touched. I don't know if I'll be able to go to the memorial service on April 12th (it's a Saturday, and it's hard to get away from the store), but I'd like to. Somehow it seems fitting for a Classicist to die on the Ides of March (the date of Caesar's death, although the calendar is different from the ancient Roman one these days). Dr Scaife was always very kind to me and listened to my ideas and gave constructive advice. He has achieved a kind of immortality from his work, and I think the projects that he helped found will flourish as others step in to keep his memory alive. May he rest in peace.

Requiescat in pace

Madeleine L’Engle, Writer of Children’s Classics, Is Dead at 88

I was saddened to read of Madeleine L'Engle's death. I love the Wrinkle in Time series. I think I may re-read it, this time in her memory.

One thing about being an author is that after you're gone, your words still touch people's lives. I suspect L'Engle is firmly set in the canon of children's literature so that new generations of children will grow to know Meg and her family and follow their adventures.