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John Lovas Festschrift
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 John Lovas Festschrift |
topic started 6/13/2005; 2:04:15 PM
last post 12/19/2005; 1:08:59 PM |
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 Dan Mitchell - John Lovas Festschrift 
6/13/2005; 1:04:15 PM (reads: 20827, responses:
2) |
It is with great sadness that we have learned that our colleague and friend John Lovas passed away at his home on the morning of June 21, 2005. He served Foothill-De Anza for 40 years with distinction and passion as a professor of English. We will miss him immensely.
This web site has been created so that colleagues, students, mentors, friends, and others may honor John by posting messages, articles, anecdotes, and other tributes. (A link in the sidebar explains how you can contribute to the site.)
Also see Tributes to John Lovas on the Web.
Earth's the right place for love - Jim Bouman Waukesha
Farewell From a Grade School Friend - Joe Gardner
What a Writing Teacher Can and Should Be - Austin Lingerfelt
My Thanks to John Lovas - Miles Myers
Grateful - Giang Nguyen
In memory of John Lovas - Greg Miguel
John Lovas, Teacher and Friend - Martha Kanter
A Swinger of Birches - Paul Bodmer
Thoughts on John Lovas - Sterling Warner
Memory lives on - Darin McCann
Goodbye Neighbor - Walt Petersen
Dear Professor John Lovas - Miki Melton
A Wonderful Colleague in the Profession - Frank Madden
A Great Friend - Dale Romero
At the edge - Kelli Custer
Still a Dynamic Presence - Liz Kleinfeld
For a Humble Giant - Joseph Price
Thanks for your Leadership - Bob Smithwick
John's Great Grin - Tisa Abshire Walker
A Hard Act to Follow - Frank Lovas
Grateful to John - Stephen Ruffus
I Never Did Get That Drink - Dean Carrico
John Will Be Missed - Kathleen Blake Yancey
Mr. La Voz's Laugh - Ramona Lum
A Note from Barbara Reid - Barbara Reid
Indians and Giants - Kevin Lovas
Not a Five Paragraph Essay - Dan Mitchell
A Commanding Presence - Lena Ampadu
An Overarching Force - Mark Molander
You always had time - Jane Westworth
Farewell to John Lovas - Thelma Epstein
Remembering John - Mary Ellen Bertolini
John, I'm going to miss you - Timna
A Poem for John - Ken Weisner
A Great Brother - Michael Lovas
Good Bye, Friend - Joanna Howard
Our Windhover - Dale Larson
A Generous Spirit - Shirley Wilson Logan
Too Young - Bruce Reeves
Thanks, John - Dave Denny
Just a few words - Judy Randall
The Longest Day - Alan Simes
something about fathers - Krista Hiser
Inspiring Mentor - Rowena Tomaneng
A blogging colleague - Steven D. Krause
Who Could Fill His Shoes? - Jody Millward
Days Like No Others - Linda Elvin
An Irregular Compliment - Austin Day
Lasting Guidance - Sarah Joy Callahan
A Lifetime - Tim Maxwell
A Letter from a New Teacher to a Wise One - Laura Raffaelli
In Retrospect - Tim Shively
General Reflections - Ulysses Pichon
All the best John - Mike Gough
John, the early activist - Bill Tinsley
Shakespeare and the 49ers - Kurt Gravenhorst
Homage to John - Randolph Splitter
John - Michael Cole
My Fondest Memory - Bernadine Chuck Fong
for John - Wallis Leslie
A Leader Among Us - Linda Lane
Good Enough for My Daughter! - Barbara Illowsky
Always Caring and Always Making a Difference - Janice Winkel
I'll miss our talks - Mary Kay Englen
Thank you, John! - Suzanne Helfman
Admiration - Terri O'Connor
Remembering the Old Days - Robert Scott
From a Distance - Mick Sullivan
Thank you to a great mentor, historian and teacher - Diana Alves de Lima
Great Retreat Speaker - Joanne Araki
My Thank You Letter - James Taylor
Give them their monkey back - Susan Stann
It's All in the Storytelling - Jon O'Bergh
A Tribute to a GREAT Teacher - Judy Miner and John Swensson
(Questions about the web site may be directed to Dan Mitchell: mitchelldan@deanza.edu)
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pricefamilyforever@g... - For a Humble Giant
6/27/2005; 6:57:34 PM (reads: 6918, responses:
0) |
As one of his students, it was a life-altering experience to be taught
by and know John Lovas. Those two ideas don't often go together, but to
sit in his classroom day after day was to get to know him. With all of
his expertise as an educator, his humility and openness are what stood
out most to me. He didn't put up walls between him and his students. To
be able to do that and fulfill the teacherly roles of coach and critic
at the same time was a masterful feat. I suggest that that was to a
large degree what made him so effective, and so inspiring to me
personally. I remember the day he came back to De Anza with a handout
of a timeline of events during a day spent that past weekend lobbying
politicians in Washington. It was so simple. His sharing it with us was
so disarming, such an act of trust. It was also a really fun example of
how to use language. One time I wrote a letter to the editor which was
published in La Voz, the college paper. He complimented me on it one
evening and we discussed it and many other things for close to two
hours outside his office as is got dark. To see a teacher so excited
about learning was a magical experience. He was so engaged and turned
on by things that he really couldn't help sharing with others. It took
his teaching to another dimension. One that has seldom if ever been
reached by other teachers I've had in my life. His shoes will never be
filled, but I hope at the very least that the Linguistics classes
remain part of De Anza's offerings, and that they include the fantastic
text by Trask called "Language Basics".
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alingerfelt@g... - What a Writing Teacher Can and Should Be
12/19/2005; 12:08:59 PM (reads: 6301, responses:
0) |
One of the wonderful things about the blogosphere is that it provides for connections
that would otherwise not be made. This is an incredible facet of
online communication, and it is especially helpful in academic
discourses, where feeedback and revision is necessary, if not crucially
vital.
In 2003-2004, I probably had more "blog" conversations with John Lovas
than any other academic. He challenged my ideas, especially in
rhetoric, composition, and pedagogy, and he helped define one of the
most important seminar projects I did as an MA student--The Classroom Blog: A Moment for Literacy, A Moment for Giving Pause.
Even when I periodically stopped blogging in the late fall of 2004,
I continued to read my regular list of blogs, but sometime in the late
spring/early summer, I noticed that John Lovas was no longer updating
his blog. This was a
blog I had come to know and loved reading, particularly because Lovas
represented a compassionate pedagogical voice in a community I
love--writing teachers.
Today, I googled John's name and came across a memorial page. I wish I would have known when Lovas passed. My tribute may be a bit late, but I feel it is in order:John,
You challenged my ideas, critiqued my thoughts, and compelled me to
hone my own reflections. You also provided me with a pertinent,
relevant, forward-thinking, and compassionate example of what a writing
teacher can and should be.
Thank you.
It saddens me that I could not say "good bye," even if only in a
blog comment or in an e-mail, and in retrospect, that our online
discourse about blogging and technology within the classroom came to an
end...far too soon.
Blessings. John truly was an incredible writing
teacher, and he served his community for over 40 years. Were it not
for the blogosphere, I would never have known John, nor would his
feedback shaped my own ideas and writings.
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