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L'ADIEUAU POÈTE
Our friend Richard J. Schoeck died on January 29- He was with us last August at the Amherst Thomas More Conference, where he delivered the first lecture, "1516 and Annus Mirabilis". Although suffering, he stood the whole while, confessing to his son, afterwards, that this had been an act of hubris. We prefered to call it dignity.
In unravelling the data sent me about this major Morean scholar, I discovered a wealth of talents in a truly kind and noble gentleman, who pursued learning to the very end of his life, curious of other literary production, seeking truth in nature and expressing it through poetry.
His son Eric wrote: "Dad had an eloquent voice. He spoke with an elocution that suggested precision and formality. I don't ever recall Dad using vulgarities. And on the unfortunate occasions when I misspoke, I can still hear him clear his throat in his inimitable way and slowly and carefully correct my grammatical malfeasance. Growing up we three children had a pact with Dad: he promised not to correct us if we promised not to tell anyone he was a professor of English.
He was a tolerant and...