Robert Parker

I am so sad to learn of Bob's passing. He was an integral part of the Wittenberg English Department into which I was hired in 1989. Bob was a charismatic teacher, well-beloved by students and colleagues alike. He did love wit and humor. I remember that after he retired, he asked me about my love for George Eliot, whom he thought was far too earnest. I told him to reread Middlemarch and pay special attention to the arch wit, as well as the moral clarity, of the narrator. A couple of weeks...