Dear Friends,
Our Titania from last summer's reunion has lost her real-life Oberon. Gail McDonald's husband, Russ McDonald, passed away today in London, after suffering a stroke earlier this week. Russ is a renowned Shakespearean and Renaissance scholar and teacher; for the last several years he was Professor of English Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London.
Doc and I (Mary Collins) have spoken to Gail this week. She will be greatly buoyed by hearing from her Winedale friends via email.
During the week, she said many lovely things about Russ. She mentioned his being joyful, generous, vivid, smart. She feels a little bit of peace thinking about how many people benefited from his being alive, how many his life touched: students, readers, colleagues. She talked about his helping people see the world through his eyes, as a teacher and writer. She loves the way he saw the world, his optimism and joy, his love of beauty. He had an artist's attention to detail when reading poetry and explaining it.
He was a wonderful, wonderful man.
Love,Mary