James Richard Giles

James Richard Giles PhD, 87, passed away on September 26th. Jim was born October 26, 1937, in Bowie, Texas to Barney Giles and Eva Walker Giles. A proud Bowie Jackrabbit, Jim graduated from Bowie High School in 1956, received his BA and MA in English from Texas Christian University in 1960 and 1961, and his PhD in English from the University of Texas in 1967. He then taught English at North Texas State University, where he met and married Wanda Jean Hancock at his mother’s house in Bowie on September 1, 1968.

Jim and Wanda moved to DeKalb in 1970 to teach English at Northern Illinois University, where Jim was Professor of English until his retirement in 2007. Their daughter, Morgan Kathleen, was born in 1971. In the English Department, he served on or chaired countless thesis and dissertation committees, guiding students with care and unwavering support. His commitment to international colleagues was legendary: Jim was instrumental in securing a $182,000 Fulbright Grant to host English literature scholars from all over the world at an NIU summer institute and helping to lead this Fulbright Institute for several years. At the university level, Jim served on key committees including the University Council (Executive Secretary 1985-87), the Faculty Senate (Chair 1986-88), and the Academic Planning Committee.

Jim’s classes were in great demand, not only because he was a great lecturer and an expert on American literature, but also because he was a talented wit.  According to one source, “Students and colleagues always leaned in to hear Jim, because they knew that if whatever he said wasn’t the most incisive comment they had ever heard, it would probably be the funniest.” One of Jim’s most famous students was Don Henley of the Eagles, who deemed Jim so inspirational to his success that he invited him to be his guest at the initiation of the Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods in 1998. There Jim met and had his photo taken with President Bill Clinton.

Even Jim’s high school classmates knew that he was destined to become a great writer. From the Bowie High School Class of 1956 yearbook: “Jimmy is Mrs. Davis’s Ernest Hemingway. He is a swell guy whose favorite pastime is laughing and making friends. He may be a great author some day, if the publishers can read his writing.” As it turned out, Jim was a prolific academic writer and editor, with major influential publications including nine single-authored scholarly texts, six editions of the Dictionary of Literary Biographies co-edited with his wife Wanda, and countless articles in scholarly journals. Jim was widely hailed as an important voice in our understanding of American Literature; especially for his theory of “fourthspace” in his 2006 The Spaces of Violence, which, one critic said “establishes Giles as one of our most incisive and energetic critics of violence in late 20th-century American fiction.”

According to Jim’s North Texas colleague Jim Baird, Jim Giles’ work was original; “he was often the first to write about many authors. He insisted that we interpret texts with our own ideas, not through the latest trends in literary theory. There’s nothing wrong with literary criticism, but that’s not the way most of us read a book. He never let his criticism get in the way of our enjoyment of a book.” For his many accomplishments in teaching, scholarship, and service, Jim was honored with the Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award in 2002 and named a Presidential Teaching Professor in 2004.

A lifelong animal lover, at an early age, Jim fell in love with horses after his father got him his first horse named Pinto. Later in life, he and Lois Self co-owned a quarter horse named Brandy that they boarded here in DeKalb. Jim’s favorite authors were Ernest Hemingway, Irwin Shaw, James Jones, and Cormac McCarthy, and he loved watching Humphrey Bogart, Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, and Lauren Bacall (whom he once met at a party!) on the silver screen. But most recently and most importantly, Jim was excited about, and would want it mentioned here that he lived long enough to see his favorite pitcher, Clayton Kershaw of the L.A. Dodgers, break two significant records in September 2025: he surpassed Don Sutton's 3,039 strikeouts to become the Los Angeles Dodgers' all-time strikeout leader and ended his 18-year career with 3052 career strikeouts, ranking 20th in major league baseball history.

Jim’s family and friends remember him as an “extraordinary professor,” “an amazing human being,” “warm, encouraging, and funny,” “beloved among the graduate students,” and “admired for his scholarship, his teaching, and his kindnesses.” One former student commented “I wish people could have known him because Giles was an experience of a person. No words can ever capture him.” And most of us remember all the years when Jim would hold court with Wanda at the Hillside Restaurant. He will be deeply missed.

Jim was preceded in death by his parents, Barney Giles and Eva Walker Giles, and his wife, Wanda Jean Giles. He is survived by his daughter Morgan Kathleen Giles, and his son-in-law Jon Hadley. The family wishes to thank Visiting Angels for their care and compassion in the final days and hours. In lieu of flowers, Jim’s family requests that donations be made to any of the following charities: The Wilderness Society (wilderness.org) Habitat for Horses (habitatforhorses.org) Equine Advocates (equineadvocates.org), and Defenders of Wildlife (defenders.org)  A celebration of Jim’s life will be scheduled for a later date.

Cremation rites and arrangements were entrusted to Finch Funeral Home 310 Oak St. DeKalb, IL 60115 815-758-3841.