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CHEVIGNY--Bell Gale. 1936-2021. Bell Gale Chevigny, 85, died on November 28, 2021 at her home in Manhattan. The cause was cancer. Bell is survived by her husband of 57 years, Paul Chevigny, their daughters Katy and Blue, and their grandchildren Josie and Simone. She was born on March 17, 1936, to Virginia and Marland Gale. She graduated from Wellesley College and earned her PhD in English Literature at Yale University. In 1957, Bell contracted polio during a trip to Mexico. She spent a year of what would have been graduate school recovering in the hospital. She spent the rest of her life disabled due to the illness. During her long career as a professor and writer, she taught at Queens College, Sarah Lawrence and SUNY Purchase. A beloved and devoted teacher, she pioneered courses in such disciplines as Women's Studies, African American Literature and Latin American Literature. It was thanks to Bell's efforts that many distinguished authors from Cuba, Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America came to the U.S. to share their work. Bell published several books, notably The Woman and the Myth: Margaret Fuller's Life and Writings (1976), a biography of Fuller, a previously unrecognized early feminist and thinker in the Trancendentalist movement, and an anthology of prison writing titled Doing Time: Prison Writing in America (1999). For several years, she chaired the Prison Writing Program at PEN America. Throughout her life, she taught in prisons, championed the cause of prisoner education, and promoted the recognition of prison writers. Bell spent summers at a family cabin on the St. Lawrence River in upstate New York. She painted numerous canvases of the landscape and helped launch a plein air painting festival there. She loved to swim in the river and spend time with her grandchildren. She was able to go there again in August with her whole family. There will be no formal memorial, though many loved ones will remember her fondly. A living memorial to celebrate her life was held for Bell's 85th birthday last spring on Zoom and attended by family, friends and former students from around the globe.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
I still remember a wondrous dinner with Bell and Paul and a few fellow-undergrads at their apartment. That's when Bell handed me a treasure. To add to what I already wrote, this is from a book I'm writing about fifty of my 78 plays:
Having a drama degree from PA, I assumed I´d be a big star in college but initially got only a few bit parts including "Five of Spades" in Alice in Wonderland. Then I landed a dream role - Stephen Dedalus in Ulysses in Nighttown, adapted from James Joyce´s Ulysses. I had been gobsmacked by the novel in a Comp Lit course and knew that I was born to play Joyce´s alter-ego Stephen. The course´s professor Bell Chevigny gave me her father´s treasured ashplant walking stick to use in the show. Stephen carries one which he calls his "augur´s rod of ash," a magical wand of divination. Having received the ashplant from a revered teacher imbued it with mysterious power in the performance.
Fred Curchack
November 25, 2023
Her work on Margaret Fuller fueled both my and my mother's passionate interest in this extraordinary woman. I offer my sincere condolences and respect for a life well lived. Her teaching, writing, and work are a living legacy.
Alison Eisinger
Other
June 11, 2023
I did not know Professor Bell Chevigny, but I lived across the street from her for many years and was fortunate to have her brilliant husband, Professor Chevigny, as my professor when I was in law school. i have heard, however, about what a wonderful person Bell was from many people, including Bernardo Polombo. My heartfelt sympathies to Professor Chevigny and his family for their loss and hope that time will help the family focus on the wonderful contributions Professor Chevigny made to this world.
Sally McDonald Henry
Other
June 10, 2023
Bell was my comp lit teacher at Queens College when I was 18. She introduced me to sublime books, especially Joyce's ULYSSES. When I played the role of Stephen Dedalus in a theatrical adaptation, she lent me her father's ashplant walking stick, which Stephen called his, "augur's rod of ash." She also let me keep her father's blackthorn. Her teaching was sheer inspiration and her influence was profound.
Fred Curchack
School
February 14, 2023
Bell was one of the best professors I ever had, inspiring new ways to look at women's and Latin-American literature. She was incredibly supportive and helpful to me in many ways.
Claudia
School
February 12, 2023
I knew her only the briefest of time. She sat next to me on an airplane coming back to New York from a literary conference. She was sick but we talked and talked. She was wonderful. The flight stays in my memory. Lovely human being
Hans Bergmann
Friend
February 4, 2022
Marianne Gale & Diane Whiffen
December 31, 2021
Dear Paul, Katy and Blue,
My friend Gail Marks just informed me of Bell's death, just as I was thinking of calling her today. I am so glad you and she put together her Zoom gathering last spring. I hope that her last weeks and passing were relatively easy and pain-free. She was, as Paul said, ambitious for everyone; she was a jewel of a person. I'm sending you my love and condolences. Gary sends condolences as well. I will call after a while. I hope you are all together and well.
Love,
Suzanne
Suzanne McConnell
December 4, 2021
Paul, Our most profound sympathies to you and your daughters at this time of Bell's passing. We will miss the interactions with her that occurred in so many ways; in your beautiful home, at our clinical practice, on the street in her scooter, etc. We learned so much from Bell and are grateful for the trust she had in us to care for her. We hope it was enough to offer her some comfort and an improved quality of life each time. It was a blessing for John to be able to spend time with Bell last week and just seemed "meant to be" given its spontaneity. We send all of you our thoughts, prayers, and love.
Cheryl & Dr. John Martinez, DPT
Other
December 4, 2021
Please except my deepest sympathies to you and your family at this time of grieving. May God be with you and your family in this time of sorrow.
Simone Taylor
December 3, 2021
Warm memories of Bell -- and sympathies to all of you.
Sarah Roff
Friend
December 2, 2021
It was an honor and a pleasure that Bell was, in small but important ways, connected to variant parts of my life.
My thoughts and care to her/our friend, Sarah, and her family, Estha
Estha Weiner
Work
December 2, 2021
Dear Paul, It has been a very long time since we communicated, but I have a very strong memory of you taking Bell out to Sag Harbor to meet my parents, I think before you were married, when I, a newlywed, was in Berkeley with my husband, while he worked on his dissertation. I am so sorry for your loss, not to mention feminist scholarship's loss, and please know that I am thinking about you and your children and grandchildren.
Martha Ullman West
December 1, 2021
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