Obituary: Michael Noonan

[Suzanne Kemmer]

I think funknetters should see this too.
Suzanne

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Carol Genetti <cgenetti at LINGUISTICS.UCSB.EDU>
> Date: February 26, 2009 1:57:07 PM CST
> To: LINGTYP at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG
> Subject: Obituary: Michael Noonan
> Reply-To: Carol Genetti <cgenetti at LINGUISTICS.UCSB.EDU>
>
> It is with great sadness that we report the unexpected death of Dr.  
> Michael
> Noonan, Professor in the Department of English at the University of
> Wisconsin-Milwaukee, at his home on February 23rd, apparently of a  
> brain
> aneurysm. Mickey (as he was fondly known) was a well-known  
> contributor to
> functional and typological linguistics. Following publication of  
> his Grammar
> of Lango, Mickey wrote extensively on the languages of Nepal and  
> published
> numerous articles, grammars, dictionaries, and text-collections. He  
> also
> worked for some time on Salish and on Irish, his heritage language.
>
> In addition to his invaluable grammatical studies of previously  
> undescribed
> languages, Mickey was a frequent contributor to the literature on  
> syntactic
> typology, with notable co-edited collections on word order, voice, and
> formalism and functionalism, as well as articles on complementation  
> (his
> paper in the Shopen volume has become part of the essential canon  
> on this
> topic), converbal constructions, subjectless clauses,  
> nominalization, and
> many other topics.
>
> Mickey was an editor, with Bernard Comrie of Studies in Language.  
> He was
> also the founding editor of Himalayan Linguistics; it was his  
> vision to
> produce a web-based journal which is free and accessible to all,  
> with a
> separate "Archive" section devoted to the publication of grammars,
> dictionaries, and texts. He was also the editor of the John Benjamins’
> Series Typological Studies in Language and with Werner Abraham, of the
> Studies in Language Companion Series.
>
> Mickey was strongly devoted to the communities with which he  
> worked. He
> played for them an important role of teacher, sponsor, mentor, and  
> friend.
> He had a deep interest in language preservation and worked with  
> members of
> the communities to increase the awareness of the importance of their
> languages as well as to provide practical support of language  
> maintenance
> efforts. Notable among his publication is a book of children’s  
> stories, the
> first work ever produced in the Chantyal language, distributed free to
> schools in three Chantyal speaking villages and to interested  
> members of the
> ethnic organization of the Chantyal people.
>
> Mickey was the supervisor of numerous doctoral students and was a  
> devoted
> mentor to many other young and developing scholars. His  
> contributions to
> their work were invaluable and he ceaselessly promoted the highest  
> academic
> quality in the work of his students and others.
>
> Mickey had a truly encyclopedic mind: he had a very wide range of  
> knowledge
> in various areas such as history, economics, and biology, which he  
> readily
> and joyfully shared with people on social occasions. He was also a  
> great
> connoisseur of food and wine and took great pleasure in his garden  
> and in
> his table – both were rich and abundant! (The last wine he  
> recommended to me
> was a Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio from the Trentino in Italy, so  
> if you
> come across this, have a glass and think of him!)
>
> Mickey will be remembered for his deep linguistic analyses, his  
> lasting
> descriptive works, his constructive and insightful criticism, and his
> leadership in Himalayan linguistics and beyond. He will be greatly  
> missed.
>
> The family requests that those wishing to make a contribution in  
> his name
> contact the Endangered Languages Fund
> (http://www.endangeredlanguagefund.org). People making  
> contributions should
> write on their checks: "In memory of Michael Noonan".
>
> Carol Genetti
>