JOHN SEELYE

John took delight in quoting Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet,]. The opponant: "Do you click your thumb at me sir? Tybalt: "I click my thumb si!" "I do not click my thunb at you sir!" And then John would joyously click histhumbnail on his tooth. He also invested in my Vorpal Gallery.

Just now seeing this. I met John in 1978 when we were both engaged to participate in a project called "Return to the River" presented by the University of Nebraska aboard the Delta Queen Steamboat. We traveled from New Orleans to Cincinnati and performed in shows in Vicksburg, Natchez, Memphis, and Paducah along the journey. John was there to talk about the river, and Mark Twain, and his many excellent books and writing about those subjects. I was there to do my Mark Twain impersonation. I...

I was a student in two of John Seelye's English classes as an undergraduate at the University of California, Berkeley. Mr. Seelye (as we called him) was then a young teaching assistant and I was a naive, impressionable 18 year old. He was mesmerizing. He strode around the room, acting out his feelings and ideas about the books we were reading .He brought literature to life, and challenged us to search within ourselves for experiences that corresponded to those of the characters we were...

I am really, really late learning of this. I was one of his graduate students at the University of Connecticut what is now a really long time ago. I remember most the life, the energy, the verve. And that makes it all the more strange that he is no longer alive. Oh dear, vita brevis.

John was the person who was behind my opening The Vorpal Gallery in San Francisco in1962.

But for him The Vorpal would not have existed and few people would have been aware of the fabulous woodcuts and lithographs of M.C.Escher.

Muldoon Elder

I'm sorry I am so late to this, but I just heard of John's passing. I was one of John's graduate students at UNC and was totally astounded by his brilliance, in the classroom and working with him individually. I gravitated to him--it didn't matter what he was teaching, I wanted to know what he thought. He was totally inspiring, as a teacher and a scholar, and I'll never forget what a powerful, engaging mind he possessed. And so funny and passionate.

Alice, it's been so long since...

John was a professor of mine at UConn and he was generous, kind and incredibly smart and alive. When I was a broke student he paid me to do some bogus work around his house. A good man I will always remember.

We were so sad to hear of John's passing. We have lots of great memories of visiting with him and Alice in North Carolina and Maine and knowing that he was not far away from us here in Florida. We will truly miss him. Grace Chlastawa and Tom Wilkerson

I didn't know John well, but he made me feel welcome when I joined the English Department at UF. His good humor, smarts, and generosity will be missed.