IN MEMORIAM

Myron Simon
Professor of English and Education
UC Irvine
1928 - 2008

Myron Simon, professor of English and education at U.C. Irvine, passed away on August 18, 2008.

Myron was a specialist in American literature who taught a broad variety of undergraduate and graduate courses during his active 25-year career at Irvine. Topics ranged from American Theater to Ethnic Literature to Literary Realism and Naturalism to Transcendentalism. He was the author of The Georgian Poetic (University of California Press, 1975) as well as the editor of a number of volumes, including a ground-breaking anthology of ethnic literature.  He was a devoted and enthusiastic teacher who was extremely generous in providing guidance to his students, in many cases, long after they had graduated. He was awarded two teaching Fulbrights to Hungary in 1981 and 1984-5, where he met his second wife Judith, who later taught Hungarian at UCLA.  Myron was knowledgeable about Hungarian history and culture and enjoyed socializing with Judith’s Hungarian friends in southern California.

The son of Polish-Jewish immigrants, Myron was born July 11, 1928, in Detroit, Michigan.  Growing up he shuttled between the Bronx and Detroit. He and his siblings were fond of recalling his early passion for books. Instead of attending Hebrew school or playing stickball in the street, Myron preferred to spend his afternoons reading in the branch public library. While continuing his formal education, he was drafted into the army during the Korean War.  Returning to civilian life, in 1954 he received his B.A. in English at the University of Michigan, where he worked part-time and was also a two-miler on the track team. He received his M.A. from Michigan in 1955 and then taught in local high schools and at Henry Ford Community College.  In the meantime, he began work on his Ph.D. at Michigan, receiving it in 1968.  From 1967 to 1969 he was an associate professor of English at the University of Michigan, Dearborn.  In 1969 he came to UC Irvine. 

At Irvine, he was vice-chair of the Department of English and acting director of the Office of Teacher Education.  Myron also founded and directed UCI’s Summer M.A. Program in English for high school teachers, a program that remains exceptionally successful today. He retired in 1994.

Myron was a man of broad culture, both elite and popular. Along with other members of his family, he was an ardent and highly knowledgeable film buff. He regularly attended concerts at the Orange County Performing Arts Center and had a large collection of classical music CD’s with a sprinkling of the best recordings of Louis Armstrong, Artie Shaw, and other big bands and vocalists. From his early adoration of such sports greats as Hank Greenberg and Tommy Harmon to his later years, Myron was a faithful fan of the Detroit Tigers and the University of Michigan Wolverines. He encouraged and admired the academic as well as the athletic success of his son Paul and daughter Sarah, in basketball and swimming respectively, as well as that of his three grandchildren in baseball and tennis.

Myron Simon was a member of that endangered species of college professors: a man of encyclopedic knowledge and constant intellectual curiosity. After retiring, he attended Professor Ermano Bencivenga’s seminars in philosophy and did all the readings. He enjoyed his teaching as well as his scholarly research. His service not only to the English and Education Departments but also to the campus in general and to the profession was exemplary. For many years, he was an active member of the American Association of University Professors. 

A delightful conversationalist and a generous human being who enjoyed interacting with his colleagues, friends, and neighbors, Myron will be missed by everyone who knew him.

Brook Thomas, Chair of the Department of English

Seymour Menton, Professor Emeritus of Spanish and Portuguese