Judith Wright

Judith Gale Wright

February 15, 1943-March 8, 2020

Beloved professor and animal advocate.

Judy Wright died on March 8 in Louisville, KY, of cancer. Born in Schenectady, NY to John D. Wright and Elise Upton Wright, she moved to Louisville with her family when she was ten. She graduated from DePauw University, and earned master's and doctoral degrees in comparative literature at Indiana University. She held jobs as a waitress, a clerk at a French bank, an assistant librarian in a rare books library and a college instructor; in 1973 she settled down at Sonoma State University in California, where she rose from assistant professor to professor and served for several years as chair of the English Department. Then known by a married name, Judith Hess, she pioneered courses in film studies and women's studies and in 1974 was one of the founders of the journal, Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media, still being published on line. When, in a state budget crisis, the university began to lay off tenured faculty in the humanities, she transferred to the Sonoma State University School of Business. In a survey of alumni, her business communications course was ranked as the most valuable one they had taken.

Judy was an excellent cook who loved to feed and entertain people. She also loved to feed and entertain animals, and in retirement she was very active in two programs for them. She captured feral cats, got them spayed/neutered, and used her 3.5 acres of land as a sanctuary. And she fostered and socialized dogs with behavioral problems to prepare them for adoption.

She enthusiastically explored the world: her travels took her to Europe, Egypt, Turkey, Central and South America, Thailand, Indonesia and other places. She spent several years living on St. Thomas, USVI, and in the Charleston, NC area before moving to Louisville in 2012.

Judy had a beautiful soprano voice and music was an abiding pleasure.

She was predeceased by her parents and a brother, J. David Wright III. She is survived and missed by many loving friends, old and new. For more information and a guestbook, see Tributes.com (Judith Wright, KY). Contributions in her memory to Petaluma Pet Pals (www.PetalumaPetPals.org , 2200 Petaluma Blvd., Petaluma, CA 94952) , which she helped found, would be appreciated.