Mary Beth Rose

I was saddened to stumble across Mary Beth´s obituary while randomly checking in to see what various professors were up to today. I just got around to watching Bad Day at Black Rock recently, and I remembered a poster she had in her home that I saw when she had our class over at the end of the semester in ´99 or ´00. She said that the dedication to her then recent book Gender and Heroism to "Uncle Don" was a reference to her uncle Don McGuire and went on to tell how he wanted so badly to win the WGA award for Tootsie that he couldn´t even think attending the Academy Awards if the guild didn´t recognize him.

I was Mary Beth´s caregiver. She inspired me to go back to nursing school. I miss you so much MB! Although it was my job to care for you, you cared for me in so many ways. My mentor, my friend - it was a pleasure to know you and make your 5AM coffee and cinnamon toast!

When I was giving a seminar at the Newberry Library in 1994, Mary Beth was so welcoming at every level, from literary discussion to exploring Chicago to sorting out problems in my apartment. I salute her as a bold pioneer in criticism and am so grateful for the lasting accomplishment of the edition of Elizabeth I's writings that she and Leah initiated.

Mary Beth and I have been friends for decades. We met at the Newberry Library, when she was still assistant to the director of the Center for Renaissance Studies there. Before long she was promoted to Director, and did a wonderful job of bringing energy and sparkle to the library and its programs.
One day she and I were walking south to have lunch at Yakisoba on Chicago Avenue.and jauntily decided to coedit the writings of Queen Elizabeth I. The project ended up taking us over fifteen years, even with the help of Janel Mueller, whom we added to the editorial team after the birth of my second daughter.
My most vivid memory of Mary Beth is of our long and intense meetings in her Newberry office discussing Elizabeth I while my new daughter stayed calm and happy in her baby swing nearby. Mary Beth loved babies and especially adored her nephew and grand-nephew, who were the center of her world.
As Mary Beth went on to her distinguished career in Renaissance Studies and I moved to Austin and then Nashville, she and I always stayed in touch via long, juicy phone calls. She was so full of zest for life and brought so much vitality and joy to those around her! MB, I shall miss you terribly.
Leah Marcus

Mary Beth was a mentor to me at Northwestern during the time she was a visiting professor there. My first year of my doctoral program, she introduced me the wonderful examples of early modern women writers I'd never heard of before. I actually just emailed her to let her know I've written a novel about Lady Mary Wroth - a direct product of her legacy - which will be published soon. It greatly saddens me I can't share it with her. She made an indelible mark on me with her excitement and generosity.

I cannot claim to have known Mary Beth Rose very well, but I knew people who were close to her, and I think she took mentorship seriously. She was always kind to me (I was a mere lecturer at UIC), and I sensed a steely resolve underneath the impeccably attired exterior (not that the two contradict each other!). As a woman running a highly regarded intellectual center in a male-dominated academic environment, I think she provided an example for many.
My condolences to all her loved ones.

I became friends with Mary Beth during her directorship of the Newberry Center for Renaissance Studies, the first of her several leadership positions in the humanities. Our last outing was to see East Texas Hot Links at the Court Theatre in September. I will dearly miss her long, lively presence in my life.

She oversaw the first academic conference I attended. It was 1984 and I was in grad school. She was very kind to one and all

I remember her sitting patiently outside my office to discuss her MA thesis on Shakespeare's sonnets. She was a little grumpy if I was running late, but the conferences with her was one of the joys of that year. She always sparkled, and managed an unusual combination of skepticism and enthusiasm. We have been friends ever since. I will miss her warm and ebullient presence and her intellectual slyness.