Harry Carraci Rutledge

Harry Carraci Rutledge

1932-2006

Harry Carraci Rutledge (1932-2006) was born in Chillicothe, Ohio. All of his higher education occurred at Ohio State, where he received a B.Sc.Ed. (1954), M.A. (1957), and Ph.D. (1960). His first job was as assistant professor of classics at the University of Georgia, where he rose to associate professor (1960-9) and head of the Romance Languages Department (1962-9). Here he began to publish in his chosen field of interest, the classical tradition in the twentieth century with "T.S. Eliot and Virgil" in Vergilius (1966). He moved to Knoxville in 1969 as Professor of Classics at the University of Tennessee (1969-96), where he chaired the department for more than two decades (1968-91). Many of us remember with special fondness the papers first introduced in sessions at CAMWS meetings that were collected in The Guernica Bull: Studies in the Classical Tradition in the Twentieth Century (1989). Papers like "Classical Imagery in Henry James's Golden Bowl" (1977) and "Dido in Modern Literature" (1981) are among his best. Harry is perhaps best remembered for his great service to classical organizations. He was president of three of the largest: the Vergilian Society of America (1977-9), the American Classical League (1990-4) and our own CAMWS (1979-80). He was also president of the Southern Comparative Literature Association (1978-9) and secretary to the advisory council of the American Academy in Rome (1971-5). A rare grace and a generous soul in a loving friend to the world of classics, Harry died on April 15, 2006.

— Ward Briggs