George A. Starr

George Starr, a member of the English department faculty from his appointment as Assistant Professor of English in 1962 until his retirement in 2021, died on August 16, 2024. Starr joined the English department after completing his Ph.D. at Princeton University, and held Bachelor of Arts Degrees from Yale University and Queen’s College, Cambridge.

One of the world's leading scholars and editors of Daniel Defoe, the winner of a Guggenheim Fellowship as well as an ACLS Fellowship, Starr was the author of two books on Daniel Defoe – Defoe and Spiritual Autobiography (1962) and Defoe and Casuistry (1971) – as well as numerous articles on Defoe and eighteenth-century British literature. His editions of a number of Defoe's works, including Moll Flanders, are standards in the field. Starr taught a wide variety of classes in the department, on eighteenth-century literature, American humor, Utopias and Dystopias, and modern California novels and films, which became a signature class.

Starr served the department and the campus in numerous ways during his career, as the Director of Graduate Studies in the English Department, and as a member and chair of several of the most demanding committees of the Academic Senate, including the Committee on Budget & Interdepartmental Relations (1980-1984, including a stint as chair in 1983-1984), and the Committee on Committees (1985-1986, and as chair in 1986-1987). Starr was part of the UC-wide taskforce on the establishment of UC Merced (1999-2000).

His most distinctive and substantial service was to the University Library: he served on the University Library Committee as both chair and member during four different decades (1970-71, 1974-1976, 1977-1979, 1998-2001, and 2015-16). Tom Leonard, University Librarian Emeritus, notes that Starr made major contributions to the Library committee. He also made major contributions to the English department library – he was its shaping spirit and guiding hand for decades. He singlehandedly maintained the department library up to and beyond his retirement. An excellent teacher and very successful graduate mentor throughout his career, Starr was celebrated and honored by colleagues and former students with the publication of Reflections on Sentiment: Essays in Honor of George Starr (edited by Alessa Johns and published by the University of Delaware Press in 2016).

Starr was born in New York City on December 13, 1934. He is survived by his wife, Julia Bader, children Stephen Starr and Klara Bader Starr, brother Frederick Starr, and sister Diana Cooper.

Eric Falci