Obituary: Lou Fant

[Mark Mandel]

>From the New York Times. The article is on line at
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/25/obituaries/25FANT.html?searchpv=nytToday
, but that URL may not work after today, June 25.

I studied with Lou one summer at Cal State Northridge. He will be greatly
missed.

   Mark A. Mandel : Dragon Systems, a Lernout & Hauspie company
          Mark_Mandel at dragonsys.com : Senior Linguist
 320 Nevada St., Newton, MA 02460, USA : http://www.dragonsys.com

     =======================

Louis Fant, Who Helped Start the National Theater of the Deaf, Dies at 69

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SEATTLE, June 24 -- Louis Fant, a hearing child of deaf parents who helped found the National Theater of the
Deaf in Waterford, Conn., died here on June 11. He was 69.

The cause was complications from pulmonary fibrosis, his family said.

Mr. Fant learned sign language before he learned to speak.

"I always considered sign language to be his mother tongue," his youngest son, Lorn Fant, said in a telephone interview.
"Getting sign language out there was a big part of what he did. People saw that it really is a beautiful language."

Louis Fant was born in Greenville, S.C., went to Baylor University, planning a career in ministry for the hearing-impaired,
and earned a master's degree in teaching at Columbia University. He taught elementary school students at the New York
School for the Deaf before joining the faculty at Gallaudet University in Washington, where he developed an interest in
theater.

In 1967 he helped found the National Theater of the Deaf in Waterford. He toured with the group for three years as an
actor, interpreter, translator, narrator and administrator.

"It's broken down a lot of barriers, made hearing people aware of deaf people, and that they have something to offer in
theater, dance, art, literature," Mr. Fant once told The Los Angeles Times.

He moved to California in the 1970's to pursue an acting career. He appeared in local theater productions, in television
shows including "Little House on the Prairie" and "Cheers," and in films, including "Looking for Mr. Goodbar."

He also worked as a consultant and sign-language coach for actors like Diane Keaton, Henry Winkler and John
Rubenstein, and was a coach on the set of the movie "Children of a Lesser God." He conducted seminars and wrote
books on sign language, including "The American Sign Language Phrase Book."

His son said that Mr. Fant grew disenchanted with Hollywood in the late 1980's and moved to Seattle, where he taught
sign language, training and interpreting. He also taught at Seattle Central Community College until his retirement last year.

Mr. Fant is survived by his wife, Barbara Bernstein, and four children.