[Ads-l] RIP, John Algeo

Tue Oct 22 11:22:42 UTC 2019

John Algeo edited my first articles (really small notes rather than articles) for American Speech.  Although the kind of scholarship I do is not at all prestigious academically, he made me feel that there were some linguists who were interested in word-histories.

It is interesting that both Algeo and another great student of the lexis, Allen Walker Read, had sideline gigs of heavy involvement with somewhat funky quasi-intellectual movements.  For Read, it was General Semantics.  For Algeo, it was Theosophy.

Fred

________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2019 6:40 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: RIP, John Algeo

This is very sad news for me. I didn't know John well, but as editor of
American Speech he accepted my neophyte article on World War I slang for a
1972 issue.  (It was on the recommendation of the late John Fisher.)

John and I corresponded periodically on slang for years afterward, and in
the '90s he did me the honor of an invitation to contribute the chapter on
American slang to the Cambridge History of the English Language.

The adjectives "warm" and "witty" have become cliches, but along with
"gracious" and "learned" they well described John Algeo.

JL

On Sat, Oct 19, 2019 at 7:30 PM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:

> I just received word that John Algeo passed away on Sun., Oct. 13 at the
> age of 88. He served as ADS president in 1979 and was the editor for
> _American Speech_ from 1969 to 1982, overseeing the journal's transition to
> becoming the official organ of the ADS in 1970. He also served as chair of
> the society's New Words Committee, and in that capacity edited "Among the
> New Words" for _American Speech_ from 1987 to 1997, joined for most of that
> time by his wife Adele as co-editor. They commemorated the 50th anniversary
> of the feature in 1991 with the publication of the book _50 Years Among the
> New Words_. He also wrote and edited many other valuable works on American
> English, including _Cambridge History of the English Language: Vol. VI,
> English in North America_ (2001), _British American Grammatical
> Differences_ (2004), _The Origins and Development of the English Language_
> (6th ed., 2005), and _British or American English? A Handbook of Word and
> Grammar Patterns_ (2006).
>
> Here is the obituary published by the Bowling Green Daily News.
>
>
> https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bgdailynews.com%2Fobituaries%2Fjohn-thomas-algeo%2Farticle_4240a092-b7e9-5527-b65e-47a94a893118.html&data=02%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40yale.edu%7Ccd25bf11fa9e408fbf4808d756dc58c2%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637073376693549607&sdata=vXqSzvN5597pj%2BEMue4zZNYkqYDbF2T71vUPRW%2FY0I4%3D&reserved=0
> Bowling Green - Dr. John Algeo, UGA Emeritus Professor of English, died
> October 13 in Bowling Green, KY, age 88. Born in St. Louis, Missouri. U.S.
> Army, 1951-1954, with service in Korea.
> John met his future wife, Adele Silbereisen, in graduate school. He was
> sitting on the UFL quad, trying to study, when he was distracted by the
> swish of a calf-length skirt and the lithe figure who wore it. When she
> showed up in his Old English class, a love match was made over ancient
> words and contract bridge.
> John taught, lectured, and published on linguistics, fantasy literature,
> and religion. He is author or editor of 29 books, including the widely-used
> textbook, Origins and Development of the English Language. At UGA, he was
> Alumni Foundation Distinguished Professor, Department Head, and Director of
> Linguistics. He was President of the American Dialect Society, the American
> Name Society, and the Dictionary Society of North America. He edited the
> journal American Speech for ten years and, with Adele, for another ten
> years wrote its "Among the New Words" column on neologisms. He was a
> Fulbright Research Fellow and a Guggenheim Fellow at the University of
> London, Visiting Professor at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, and
> seminar leader for English teachers in Jerusalem.
> John was fascinated with ritual, symbolism, and life's existential
> mysteries. A 70-year member of the Theosophical Society, he served as
> American President and International Vice-President. He rose to
> Thirty-Third Degree in the Eastern Order of International Co-Freemasonry.
> He lost his beloved Adele in 2010 and is survived by daughter Katie,
> Scottsville, KY; son Thomas, Cincinnati, OH; and five grandchildren.
> J.C. Kirby & Son Broadway Chapel has been entrusted with arrangements.
> Cremation was chosen.
>
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--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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