Russell C. Brignano ’57

Russell C. Brignano ’57 died on April 8 at Family Hospice, Canterbury Place, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He came to Dartmouth from William Henry Hall High School in West Hartford, Connecticut; played baseball for four years; majored in international relations; and belonged to Casque & Gauntlet, Green Key, Sigma Nu, and the Undergraduate Council. After graduation he served two years in the U.S. Army, mostly in Frankfurt, Germany. Russ began his career in the Hartford, Connecticut, insurance industry, then decided to go to graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, where he earned his master’s and Ph.D. in English. Accepting a teaching job at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, he later joined the Penn State system and taught mainly at the Beaver campus and at the University of Pittsburgh. Russ was the author of two books, Richard Wright: The Man and his Works (University of Pittsburgh) and Black Americans in Autobiography (Duke University Press). He was the prime force behind the establishment of a significant collection of Black American autobiography at the Beaver campus, and the collection was dedicated to him when he retired in 1997. Although he enjoyed travel, Russ loved Pittsburgh and never wanted to leave this friendly city with such easy access to the Pirates Baseball team (documenting every game in his scorebook) and the symphony orchestra. He had good friends in his book group, which met for more than 30 years. His gardening skills produced delicious tomatoes. Russ is survived by his wife, Mary, brother Robert ’61, and sister Carolyn.