By means of this page, we hope to keep all our present and former faculty, students and staff members informed of changes and events in our department. It will be updated regularly, so tune in every now and then to find out what is going on around here! In the future, we will include alumni notes, so please keep us informed of your whereabouts and activities. Please send all information to Ms. Susan Fitzgerald at sftzgrld@memphis.edu.

In Memoriam: Dr. Naseeb Shaheen

Dr. Shaheen was an institution in the Department of English at the University of Memphis. There will never be another person like him. He taught in the department for forty years (he arrived here in 1969), and most faculty never expected him to retire. The only way Naseeb would ever leave us was through death.

Naseeb was well known for teaching so many hundreds, perhaps thousands, of students throughout his forty years here. Without a doubt, he taught more students about British literature and Shakespeare than any other faculty member ever at the University of Memphis. Students were captivated by his lively lectures, by his in-depth knowledge of British literature and the Bible, and by his passion for the subjects he taught. Often, students who had graduated from the university and who had returned five, ten, fifteen, or twenty years later to visit would inevitably ask, "Is Dr. Shaheen still here?" They found his classes to be unique.

Naseeb Shaheen will always be remembered as a dedicated research scholar. His whole life was devoted to his research. He told faculty that he had little interest in living day to day; he lived his life to establish a legacy through his publications. He was particularly proud of the distinction of being the foremost authority in the world on biblical references in Shakespeare's plays. He liked to acknowledge that anyone doing work in that area in the future would inevitably have to read his books.

Naseeb published four books on British literature, three books on the history of Ramallah, and forty refereed articles. His essays were published in the best venues, including Shakespeare Studies, Milton Quarterly, Shakespeare Quarterly, Philological Quarterly, and Shakespeare Survey. He also had many essays published in Notes and Queries, which he constantly reiterated was a journal that could be found in the best libraries worldwide, including university libraries throughout Europe, North America, South America, Africa, the Middle East, and the Far East. At the time of his death, he had three items in submission and was working on yet another pictorial history of Ramallah book.

Most faculty and students do not realize how beneficent Naseeb really was; he truly cared about the students he taught and the faculty members with whom he worked. He endowed a scholarship for low-income students who were majoring in science while planning to become high school teachers. Naseeb understood that the schools needed highly qualified science teachers. He also provided money out of his own pocket to augment the English Department's library budget. As Library Coordinator for the department for many years, he constantly argued that every great university has a strong book collection, and he consistently pleaded with the administration to generate more resources for the library.

Naseeb was incredibly frugal�some would say miserly. He refused to spend money on himself; instead he preferred to give it away to charity. For years, he drove an early 1960s green Chevrolet that was so outdated that it could be distinguished from all the other cars in the parking lot; the only reason he abandoned the car was because his brothers complained about it. Naseeb would hardly ever treat himself to lunch or dinner at a restaurant; he preferred to go to social events where he could get free food. For years, he lived in what was considered to be run-down student housing off Southern Avenue; he even got accustomed to having the noisy freight train rumble through several times each day. When he moved to a modest condo within walking distance of the university, he furnished it with the bare essentials.

Instead of spending money on himself, he bought thousands of shares of stock, most of which were given away to charity. The money that he saved was enough to build three buildings for Birzeit University in the West Bank near Ramallah; one of these buildings houses their graduate school. There were several years when Naseeb gave half of his salary to charitable contributions.

All of us in the Department of English knew that Naseeb was eccentric, even an anomaly; we admired him for his eccentricities. Here was a millionaire who went from classroom to classroom each evening, turning out the lights to save money for the administration. Naseeb could remember the most minute facts about British literature and could accurately quote Shakespeare or the Bible at will; however, he couldn't remember student or faculty names to save his life. He loved working in the English Department but never cared to understand how the department itself worked. He couldn't recall what happened in the department last week and certainly not last month or last year.

He believed that serving on departmental committees was a waste of time--he much preferred to focus on that next article that he was planning to submit for publication. I can only recall one committee that he was a member of during the last twenty-six years--a hiring committee to which former chair Guy Bailey appointed him. Some might argue that he was a lonely person, but even that ostensible sense of loneliness was an anomaly, for Naseeb relished being alone. Although most of us might see loneliness as potentially depressing, Naseeb did not. He frequently explained that every evening, when he arrived home, he would say, in Arabic, "Naseeb, thank god you are finally alone." He would boast that he would be working in his office on Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, Fall Break, and every day during Spring Break. Shaheen also came to the office on Saturday and Sunday. Thus, although sociable when necessary, he was the master at working alone.

With all of Naseeb's admirable traits, one wonders what most endeared him to faculty and students. He became an institution because he was an amazing person who refused to adopt a mask and conform, like so many of us do in modern society. What you saw was what you got. He was true to himself, which is why virtually all of us admired him. It's difficult to believe that such a person who made such outstanding contributions to the Department of English is now gone; however, he will not be forgotten anytime soon.

Gene Plunka, Professor of English

October 6, 2009

Henry Hall Peyton, III

Earlier this year the academic world lost a fine scholar, and our English department lost a good friend with the passing of Dr. Hall Peyton. Warren Perry (M.A., 2000), one of Dr. Peyton's former students, has written the following tribute in his memory.

Although Henry Hall Peyton III was a professor of medieval literature, he was also a Renaissance man.  Hall Peyton�s love of languages and literature made him conversant with the great works of the human experience but his patois was so much greater than the books he taught for forty years at the University of Memphis.  His knowledge of architecture was extensive, but it was exceeded by his knowledge of theatre and movie history. Hall Peyton knew more about the opera than most music historians and his love of Maria Callas was undying.  He traveled extensively; if not in the office or at home, he was probably in Mexico City, Singapore, or on one of his many personal pilgrimages to Bayreuth, home of the annual Wagner festival.  If Hall Peyton�s love affair was with Maria Callas, then his god was Wagner.

�Pick a pilgrim,� Dr. Peyton would say as he introduced The Canterbury Tales to his graduate medieval classes, �and tell me everything there is to know about who he or she is and why they are off to Canterbury.�  And the semester would begin.  His stories were funny, his lectures were informative, and his classes were always filled; it would be difficult to pay a greater compliment to a professor than the latter.    

His affection for medieval literature eventually led him to the helm of Arthuriana, the official journal of the International Arthurian Society. 

Bonnie Wheeler, current editor of Arthuriana, professor of literature at Southern Methodist University, and longtime friend of Dr. Peyton, said recently, �He wrote me often about how proud he was of his founding role in the journal. And over the years, many of the authors that Hall cultivated have written to tell me how grateful they were to have their careers launched with his good guidance and firm editorial direction.  More than anything else, Hall and I had a lot of fun� We shared good times and tough times from Dallas to a wonderful trip through my husband�s hometown of New Orleans to several MLA conventions. I had a lovely time visiting him in Memphis and viewing his collection of china with Arthurian themes� He loved the generosity and chivalric impulse of the Arthurian story and he embodied many of its great qualities. He was as fierce in defense of his students and writers as any stalwart knight; he was as gentle and courtly as any great knight in the hall. In his last correspondence to me, he mentioned once more that Arthuriana was the life work of which he was proudest, but of course his children and his students were even dearer to his heart.�

It would be difficult to find someone more committed to the University of Memphis than Dr. Peyton.  When called upon to serve, he did so with a sense of business and a smile; he rarely had a flash of temper and he often feigned curmudgeon to elicit smiles.

At the end of each semester, he would invite the graduate students to his home where he showed off his cooking and bartending skills.  His smoked turkey was superb, his oyster dressing was the stuffing of dreams, and his gin and tonics repaired the mental scorching brought on by the demands of scholarship.  His kindness was without peer.  He forever bragged on his daughter and sons and he always spoke fondly of his excursions with his wife of many years, Ann Peyton.  Also, he could not go an hour without discussing his grandchildren.

He will be missed by family, friends, and a grateful world of scholars.  Professor Wheeler notes, �Arthuriana dedicated its most recent issue to his memory and in his honor. Scholars live on in their work, and Henry Hall Peyton, III, will live long and prosper in the memory of Arthurian scholars everywhere.�

The tributes to Hall Peyton are many; we are diminished by losing him.