Earlier today my friend and mentor Fred Frank passed away. Fred's impact on my life and career is truly profound. When attending the University of Utah I stumbled upon a book intriguingly titled The First Gothics. I checked it out my Junior year and kept it with me until I graduated. I read every word, every entry over and over again. It proved to be my field guide to the first Gothic novels. It inspired me to spend hours searching for lost Gothic novels and ignited my passion. After graduating from the U of U I finally bought my own copy of The First Gothics which I still look at weekly.
Shortly after graduating I had the chance to attend my first Gothic conference in London at the home of Horace Walpole -- Strawberry Hill! In attendance was none other than Fred Frank. I introduced myself and told him how much I admired his work, particularly The First Gothics... without missing a beat he looked me in the eye and said "You know I wrote that book just for you." I replied, "I know, it saved me!" At that conference Serena and I got to know Fred and his wife Nancy as we wandered through Walpole's Gothic rooms, standing where he wrote The Castle of Otranto.
Later, Fred advised me on grad school....he encouraged me in my research, he shared his wealth of Gothic knowledge with me and for that I will be eternally grateful! Though we communicated regularly, the last time I saw Fred was in Florida at a SCSECS conference where in a twist I could never have anticipated, he came and asked me to sign my book for him.
While I will truly miss his knowledge, his friendship and his encouragement... he can now find those elusive authors and track down those lost novels.
R. I. P.
4 comments:
so glad you were lucky enough to make a friend of one of your mentors. that some how sounds like an oxymoron, but still, glad for you.
Oh, that's too bad. But at least he does get to meet his heroes. That's really great for him.
there is nothing like a mentor--sorry you have lost one of yours.
Attention!
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