Class Note 1944
Issue
In our second in a series of columns on the distinguished members of the class of ’44 who have received honorary degrees from the College, we feature Gregory Rabassa. Greg grew up in Hanover, citing professors Ramon Guthrie and Stearns Morse as his early mentors. The citation for his honorary degree states that in his field of translating Spanish and Portuguese literary works into English, Greg is “one of the best translators who ever drew breath.” His skills have been recognized and celebrated throughout the world and he has received a long list of degrees and awards. Greg wrote that one of the recent highlights was his visit to the White House when President George W. Bush awarded him the National Medal of Arts in 2008, on which occasion he shared the stage with Cyd Charisse, another honoree. He does not say whether he was more impressed with the award or Ms. Charisse. In 2009 the American Academy of Arts and Letters awarded him the Thornton Wilder Prize in Translation. Before that Brazil gave him the Order of Rio Branco, and Colombia awarded him the Order of San Carlos. Greg is still active in translating, although he says, “a little more slowly than I used to, as the brain limps a little now and then.” A Portuguese Renaissance book that has not yet been completed, by Bernardim Ribeiro, and The Correspondence of Fradique Mendes, a 19th-century Portuguese, will be brought out by UMass Press. And, by the way, UMass also gave him an honorary, as did the University of Hartford awhile back. “I like to keep it in New England,” he explained. Greg says the thing he cherishes about the Dartmouth honorary doctor of letters is that Fritz Hier was active in promoting it, and that his older daughter Kate received her degree the same year, 1982, and he was able to give her a kiss on the platform.
We have lost more classmates: Alexander Lemon McPherson, William Edward Gatlin, David Ferguson, John Pairman Brown, Robert Dixon Wiley, Charles S. Sporleder Jr., Eben Greenleaf Blackett and John Joseph Lewis. Condolences to their families.
—Betty Munson ’44a, 23 Linscott Road N., York, ME 03909; emmunson1944@gmail.com
Sept - Oct 2010
In our second in a series of columns on the distinguished members of the class of ’44 who have received honorary degrees from the College, we feature Gregory Rabassa. Greg grew up in Hanover, citing professors Ramon Guthrie and Stearns Morse as his early mentors. The citation for his honorary degree states that in his field of translating Spanish and Portuguese literary works into English, Greg is “one of the best translators who ever drew breath.” His skills have been recognized and celebrated throughout the world and he has received a long list of degrees and awards. Greg wrote that one of the recent highlights was his visit to the White House when President George W. Bush awarded him the National Medal of Arts in 2008, on which occasion he shared the stage with Cyd Charisse, another honoree. He does not say whether he was more impressed with the award or Ms. Charisse. In 2009 the American Academy of Arts and Letters awarded him the Thornton Wilder Prize in Translation. Before that Brazil gave him the Order of Rio Branco, and Colombia awarded him the Order of San Carlos. Greg is still active in translating, although he says, “a little more slowly than I used to, as the brain limps a little now and then.” A Portuguese Renaissance book that has not yet been completed, by Bernardim Ribeiro, and The Correspondence of Fradique Mendes, a 19th-century Portuguese, will be brought out by UMass Press. And, by the way, UMass also gave him an honorary, as did the University of Hartford awhile back. “I like to keep it in New England,” he explained. Greg says the thing he cherishes about the Dartmouth honorary doctor of letters is that Fritz Hier was active in promoting it, and that his older daughter Kate received her degree the same year, 1982, and he was able to give her a kiss on the platform.
We have lost more classmates: Alexander Lemon McPherson, William Edward Gatlin, David Ferguson, John Pairman Brown, Robert Dixon Wiley, Charles S. Sporleder Jr., Eben Greenleaf Blackett and John Joseph Lewis. Condolences to their families.
—Betty Munson ’44a, 23 Linscott Road N., York, ME 03909; emmunson1944@gmail.com