Inquiries may be directed to Bill Warren, Serials Associate, x5489. Library staff offer heartfelt condolences to her husband, Dan, and two children, Alex and Dana. May 3 Robert Buckeye Bob Buckeye's 115th Dream Viola White, Abernethy Curator from 1933 to 1958, is the figure of my work who sits on my shoulder, the first woman to be a Yale Younger Poet, the first student to write a doctoral dissertation on Herman Melville. In all, she published seven books, and her acquisitions as Curator are still the most important in the collection. Last fall, Stephen Donadio spoke of how community had influenced and supported him.
Community can also coerce and inhibit.
Viola White chose to be part of community on her own terms, and she lived as she chose. There was a cost, often heavy, but her withdrawal from the everyday life of the College also permitted her to contribute to it. On May 3, I will talk about the woman who, even today, I engage in discussion across my desk. Consider my talk in some ways to bookend Stephen's, about the individual and community, about tradition and the individual talent. Or if you will, a response.