New York, New York
1918 - 2010 Walter James Miller, Professor Emeritus at New York University, died of heart failure on June 20th at the age of 92. It was the death he would have wanted: unpredicted and quick. That he died on Father's Day, whose sentimentality he loathed, would have seemed to him...
Read MoreOf course I remember Walter, frequently. He is still a great encouragement and also a model in my writing career. And a very dear friend. He lived the life he chose, and lived it fully.
Geoffrey Fox
June 17, 2023 | Friend
I still think of Walter often and read over his notes on my manuscripts with great appreciation. I still haven´t finished that novel, but when I do, Walter will be in the dedication along with my late husband. RIP, Walter. I wish we had had more time together.
Roberta Lawrence
June 17, 2022 | School
February 27, 2011
I still expect to see an email from Uncle Walter..I miss him so very much. He touched my life so deeply. Cheers, Unc! Lori
February 27, 2011
Walter James Miller was my literature professor and mentor when I attended NYU in the 70s. His passion for literature ignited a spark in me that led to my becoming a professional writer. I don't know whether to love him or hate him for that but I think the answer is to love him! Nobody that I ever met knew more about literature than Professor Miller and I consider myself blessed to have had him in my life. Bravo, Walter...bravo!!!
Steven Kunes
January 29, 2011 | Montecito, CA
I am very saddened to learn of Walter's passing. He was my first fiction teacher, an amazing mentor and magical human being. Angels were watching over me when I signed up for his class at NYC. He was a perceptive and senstive mentor and a musician as well. He heard the lyricism in my prose. I was proud of that -- it was a tribute to my late husband whose lyrical trumpet playing and soaring solos seemed to have influenced the shape of my thoughts and sentences -- at least the ones we liked...
Roberta Lawrence
December 18, 2010 | New York, NY
He was my friend and mentor. I am glad that he died well, productive to the end.
Geoffrey Fox
October 05, 2010 | Carboneras, Spain
I am so sad to learn of his passing.
Anna Eskenazi Bush, Olean, NY
August 11, 2010
I contacted Walter when I was still in high school... After discovering that I was related to the poet Chester Kallman, I became obsessed with researching his life and saw Walter's name in Harold Norse's memoirs. Out of pure curiosity, I googled him and sent an email. Walter responded with such warmth and openness. He wrote to me about Chester Kallman, WH Auden, and NYU (where I'd just been accepted). He even let me ask him questions over the phone, where I recorded our interview. But what he...
Lindsey Ferrentino
August 08, 2010 | NY
Here is Walter receiving an award for his Verne scholarship at the Library of Congress in 2004.
It is seldom given to us to actually meet someone whose name we have long looked up to, but I had that pleasure during a trip east in 1990. Walter's 1965 edition of 20,000 Leagues had been responsible for launching my fascination with Jules Verne.
NYU gave me his phone number, and we had lunch the next day. I was fortunate to be able to count him as a friend for the next 20 years. His personal kindness was no less meaningful than his intellectual dynamism.
My only...
Brian Taves
June 28, 2010 | Culpeper, VA