Daniel Palumbo

Daniel Palumbo Daniel Palumbo, 29, died peacefully and without pain in the early hours of April 2nd, 2017, surrounded by his family and wife. A devoted native of Chicago, Dan attained his B.A. at DePaul University, where he majored in Philosophy and minored in English and French. Dan went on to enter a Ph.D. program in Philosophy at Penn State, beginning a dissertation exploring pain, suffering, and disability through readings of 20th century French philosophy. Dan's work focused on the necessity and impossibility of first-person accounts of pain, and was deeply informed by his personal experience with recurrent bone cancer and disability. Dan was a uniquely loyal friend to those near and far, with an empathy for others that greatly exceeded any attention to his own difficulties. He traveled extensively, working with, visiting, and making friends in Turkey, Germany, Italy, and his beloved France; he was also very involved in Penn State's philosophical community. A talented drummer and guitarist, he shared his passion for music with family and close friends, swapping records and frequently attending shows. Dan also had a consuming love of literature, reading poetry and novels nearly as often as works of philosophy. While he laughingly admitted to a "slightly obsessive" absorption in his artistic and intellectual life, Dan was also humble, playful, and funny, with an unpretentious and welcoming presence. His often contemplative and serious nature was balanced by a love of awful jokes, poker nights, and yelling through hockey games. Dan is survived by his brother, Paul, with whom he spent many late nights sharing confidences, playing music, and savoring beer; his mother, Donna, whose uplifting cheerfulness persisted through every struggle; and his father, Jeff, whose talents sparked the musical passions of both of his sons. Dan is also survived by his wife, Joyce, with whom he hiked, attended endless concerts, discussed philosophy, both academic and lived, and always, always laughed. In lieu of flowers, Dan asked that contributions be made to the Daniel Palumbo Memorial Disability Studies Lecture; checks can be addressed to Penn State, with "Disability Studies" in the memo line, and sent to "College of the Liberal Arts, 13 Sparks Building, University Park, PA 16802." Donations can also be made online at www.gofundme.com/danpalumbo. A service will be held on Saturday, June 3rd at Black Moshannon State Park, starting at 1pm.