Sad, sad, sad. What a great loss, may his gentle soul rest in peace. And thanks for the eloquent testimonials on this great man of letters and dignified comportment for all ages. He will be sorely missed.
Please keep us posted on funeral and memorial arrangements. May his wife, children, grandchildren, and the rest of his family be comforted. May they bear the loss with the same dignity be lived his life.
K'asun re.
Folu
Sent from my iPhone
Sent from my iPhone
--Good grief! Why Okpewho, and why now? This is the felling of an Iroko tree in the thinning desert of African literary circle. A great man of letters and audacity, I recall Okpewho as a guest lecturer at Yale in 1982. He made every African/African American on campus proud. The man who destroyed to its foundations the intellectual insult of people like Ruth Finnegan who had believed and propagated the erroneous notion that there existed nothing like epic tradition in Africa, silencing the opponents with astute brightness, prodigious evidence and intellectual finesse. What a loss! A few weeks ago was Dan Kunene of the Heroic Poetry of the Basotho fame; today, another renaissance mind has stepped into the pantheon of his ancestors. Isidore Okpewho came to us in a hurry and left us in a hurry; but he is the legendary "Onírèsé" - the master carver; although Providence has stopped him from continuing his skills, his handicraft will remain immortal. May all those left behind be comforted. . . Ahhhhhhh!Michael O. AfolayanSad in The Land of Lincoln - very sad!On Monday, September 5, 2016 6:19 AM, Toyin Falola <toyinfalola@austin.utexas.edu> wrote:
--I bring sad news.
Professor Isidore Okpewho, our great friend, teacher, and mentor died yesterday. I just spoke with his wife, and funeral arrangements are being made for September. Orations to follow.
It was a privilege for me to interact with this great scholar, publishing his last major book in my University of Rochester's Series, Blood on the Tides: The Ozidi Saga and Oral Epic Narratology. He completed this book while sick. A masterpiece, I will talk about this great book after I recover from this shock.
A man of grace and elegance, it was always a delight to be with him. I visited him and his wife at their home in Binghamton, where we discussed his collected essays which I also promised to publish for him.
I will attend his funeral service and report back.Toyin Falola
Toyin FalolaDepartment of HistoryThe University of Texas at Austin104 Inner Campus DriveAustin, TX 78712-0220USA512 475 7224512 475 7222 (fax)
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