Re: Jerry Clack

I always knew Jerry was unusual in having a career before his academic one,
but I had no idea that in fact he had several more, even very recently!  An
unbelievable man.

Tim Renner

On Mon, Apr 22, 2019 at 9:03 AM David Kelly <[email protected]>
wrote:

> I remember Jerry fondly.  We worked together on the NJ Classical
> Association over many years.  A DELIGHTFUL MAN!.  Dave Kelly
>
> On Sun, Apr 21, 2019 at 1:57 PM DANIEL P. Tompkins <[email protected]>
> wrote:
> >
> > He did a lot of good work.  Sorry to learn this news.
> >
> > Dan
> >
> > On Sun, Apr 21, 2019 at 1:48 PM Thomas Scanlon <[email protected]>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > I was very sad to learn of the recent passing of Jerry Clack, my
> > > undergraduate mento at Duquesne University and friend for over 50 years
> > > since. He fit 4 or 5 lives into 1. Here is the obituary from today's
> > > Pittsburgh Post Gazette.
> > >
> > > Atque in perpetuum, frāter, avē atque valē.
> > >
> > > JERRY CLACK
> > >
> > > Classics professor, opera lover and old-world gentleman
> > >
> > > July 22, 1926 - April 15, 2019
> > >
> > > BY ROBERT CROAN PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE
> > > In a career that lasted over 70 years, Jerry Clack wore many hats.
> > >
> > > From a youthful stint at the Swedish Legation in Washington and four
> years
> > > with UNESCO, to public relations and accounting positions with AAA,
> > > Coca-Cola and the American Heart Association, he went on to assume
> > > directorship of Allegheny County’s chapter of The March of Dimes in
> 1953.
> > > His 15-year tenure with March of Dimes saw the development of two
> > > anti-polio vaccines, that of Jonas Salk at the University of
> Pittsburgh and
> > > Albert Sabin’s oral vaccine.
> > >
> > > But it was in the world of academics that Mr. Clack was widely known,
> > > especially in the instruction of the Classics.
> > >
> > > Mr. Clack died Monday at Shadyside Hospital due to heart failure. He
> was
> > > 92.
> > >
> > > The son of Mildred Taylor Van Dyke of Pittsburgh and Christopher
> Thrower
> > > Clack of Boydton, Va., Mr. Clack was born in New York City on July 22,
> > > 1926. Because his father was a foreign representative of the
> > > Pittsburgh-based Blaw-Knox Co., he spent his early years in Europe,
> mostly
> > > in London and Dusseldorf. After his father’s death, he returned with
> his
> > > mother to Pittsburgh, attending the Fulton School and Peabody High
> School.
> > >
> > > Upon gaining admission to Princeton University, where he received an
> > > undergraduate degree in Classics in 1946, he pursued graduate work at
> the
> > > University of Pittsburgh, earning a Ph.D. in Classics in 1962. In
> 1968, Mr.
> > > Clack was appointed professor of Classic Languages at Duquesne
> University,
> > > chairing the Classics Department from 1973-75 and again from 1980-83.
> > > Referring to his Latin class at Duquesne, one student posted on
> > > ratemyprofessors.com: “Take him, he makes his classes short and
> funny.”
> > >
> > > Mr. Clack’s sense of humor endeared him to his friends and family. “He
> was
> > > one of those people with a wicked sense of humor, sometimes a little
> > > black,” said Mark Mazur, a mathematics professor at Duquesne and close
> > > friend of Mr. Clack’s. “He was very clever, plays on words and so
> forth.
> > > That was his trademark.”
> > >
> > > He also published widely in the field. In addition to scholarly
> articles,
> > > he produced four textbooks on the subject of Hellenistic poetry and
> > > epigrams. He won numerous awards for his scholarly research, but his
> first
> > > love was opera — first and foremost the operas of Wagner and Richard
> > > Strauss. He made annual visits to the Wagner Festival in Bayreuth,
> Germany,
> > > called himself an opera fanatic and prided himself on a record
> collection
> > > that included at least one version of every opera available on CD,
> tape or
> > > DVD.
> > >
> > > After his retirement from Duquesne in 2011, Mr. Clack pursued his
> lifelong
> > > interest in opera by becoming a board member of what is now Pittsburgh
> > > Festival Opera, this city’s smaller but highly active opera company.
> > > Eventually elected chairman of the board, Mr. Clack created and
> underwrote
> > > an annual Richard Strauss festival, which began with a revival of
> “Ariadne
> > > auf Naxos” in 2014. The Strauss Festival has produced local premieres
> of
> > > neglected or unfamiliar works by his favorite composer every year
> since.
> > >
> > > “As chairman of the board meetings, he would open the meetings not
> with a
> > > tedious discussion of the budget or programming but by giving us a
> little
> > > lecture on some arcane portion of the operatic repertoire,” said
> Jonathan
> > > Eaton, artistic director of Pittsburgh Festival Opera. “Some might
> look at
> > > him and think of him as an eccentric, but he wasn’t. He was very
> > > passionate, and he wasn’t afraid of his passions.”
> > >
> > > In 2017, Mr. Clack put up money for a matching grant that would fund a
> > > revival of Festival Opera’s mini-version of Wagner’s “Ring” Cycle,
> created
> > > for the company by British composer Jonathan Dove 10 years earlier.
> This
> > > revival began in 2018 with “Der Ring des Nibelungen” and will continue
> with
> > > one opera each summer and culminate with the entire four-opera cycle in
> > > 2021.
> > >
> > > “He was an unusual man,” said Mildred Miller Posvar, 94, co-founder of
> > > Festival Opera and a former Metropolitan Opera star. “He was wonderful,
> > > with his dry wit and his lectures at the board meetings. It’s a great
> loss.”
> > >
> > > Mr. Clack was also a political activist for liberal causes that
> included,
> > > among others, Citizens for Global Solution and the Pennsylvania
> Chapter of
> > > the ACLU. He is survived by his husband, Julian Gil, who lives in
> Shadyside.
> > >
> > > Mr. Clack wished that his epitaph be a farewell used by actors in Roman
> > > comedies:
> > > Nunc, spectatores, valete et nobis clare plaudite. Now, spectators,
> fare
> > > you well, and give us loud applause.
> > >
> > > Robert Croan is a Post-Gazette senior editor. Staff writer Jeremy
> Reynolds
> > > contributed.
> > >
>


-- 
Timothy Renner
Professor of Classics and Humanities
Director, Center for Heritage and Archaeological Studies
Montclair State University
Montclair, NJ  07043
USA