Charles Saylor, known to his friends as “Chuck,” was born in California, and grew up in Seattle, Washington. After gaining an M.A. from the University of Washington, he earned the Ph.D. at Berkeley with a dissertation on Propertius. He taught Classical Studies at the University of California, Davis, and San Diego State University before moving to the University of Missouri, where he taught for 42 years until his retirement in 2010, serving as chairman of the Classical Studies Department from 1984 to 1996. His long list of publications reflects his particular interest in Roman comedy and silver Latin literature, but he also published on the classical tradition in Master painters.
Chuck Saylor died on January 20, 2020, in Columbia, Missouri.