Messages to Zabelle

20 comments:

  1. Dear Zabelle,

    WE will all miss you so much! There are some people who are one of a kind, and you fit into that category. I hope you will now be able to do what you wish to do, instead of what you have to do! Have fun, and best wishes. Keep in touch!

    Cheerio! Mary Baxley

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Zabelle,

    I don't think we've ever met, but after receiving your email, I decided to check out your virtual retirement party. Now I find that there has been another Brit at UALR this whole time, and I never knew it. Not only that, but it appears we are both from North London (I attended Ilford County High). I hope you have a happy retirement, and if you ever want to chat with a fellow Brit, you know where to find me.

    Cheers,
    Marc Seigar

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dear Zabelle,
    I was fascinated to read about your intellectual journey which was also quite a physical one. Arkansas' loss will be Maine's gain! We'll miss you (and "Speaking Volumes" won't be the same without you) and I wish you the very best in the new phase of your life. By the way, the virtual champagne was delicious... Mary Anne Garnett

    ReplyDelete
  4. Zabelle,

    It's been a great pleasure having you as a colleague and friend over the last 27 years. I remember my first year when you stood up during a departmental meeting to chastise a member of the Department of English after I had proposed a new course. She flatly stated that I had been hired only to teach Freshman comp, and you told her in no uncertain terms that she was terribly wrong. I hardly knew you then, but I greatly admired your courage to stand up for what you believed in, and I was very appreciative of your support. I rejoice with you for all of your professional acccomplishments. They are truly outstanding. And I know of many of your other accomplishments as well--good friend to animals in need, excellent cook and wonderful hostess, devoted wife, thoughtful and caring friend--the list is long. I'm wishing you and Bob the best of times in retirement. New England is a truly beautiful part of the country, charming, even idyllic. Hugs & love, Andy Herrmann

    ReplyDelete
  5. Zabelle,

    Just found this. What a wonderful idea! I'm so glad you're NOT retiring from our corner of the world :). I'm sorry I never made it to Little Rock to experience the weather for myself. But I may manage to come visit you in Maine:). Here's hoping I will see you at a celebration next April in MN!

    Carrie Zeman

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dear Zabelle,

    Very cool idea for this site!

    Congratulations on your retirement -- but you'll be missed! I so appreciate your making me feel welcome at UALR.

    All best,
    Nicole

    ReplyDelete
  7. Zabelle--
    Over 30 years ago, I was a part-timer and you were assigned to be my "shepherd." Quaint sounding, I know, but it was my good fortune, as our relationship turned into a lovely friendship. You've had a stellar career, elevated untold students' intellectual lives, and effectively raised concerns that enhanced the quality of life for students and teachers at UALR. I wish you and Bob great happiness in retirement--replete with all the beauties of Maine (Maine Coon Cats and all the other beauties of New England await you there). All the best to you.
    Cheers!
    Suznn Barr

    ReplyDelete
  8. Dr. Stodola,

    Congratulations on your retirement! This makes me sad, yet happy. I have heard only wonderful things about you and now I will never get to take any of your classes! However, I am very glad to have met you and wish you only the very best!

    God Bless,
    Nikki Ackeman

    ReplyDelete
  9. Dr. Stodola,

    There's no contest; you are the most influential instructor I've had at any school since I entered college in 2008. Though works we've covered in various courses may seem distant at first, many of the concepts you've brought to light are ones that I now apply to my education as well as my daily life. Thanks for the inspiration and advice you have provided over the last two years. You will be missed, and I hope you are as successful on future endeavors as you were in teaching.

    Best wishes,
    Liz Fox

    ReplyDelete
  10. Dear Zabelle,

    I have been able to observe the arc of your career at UALR from its inception, and you have been exemplary in all the right ways. As teacher, you have done the routine work in the American Lit core curriculum but also offered original courses that have expanded students' understanding of cultural-literary issues. As scholar, you have consistently identified fresh veins of research as well as providing the professional service of serving/leading professional organizations and assisting colleagues by being outside reader for tenure, journals, and the like. As department member, you have served repeatedly on departmental committees (a thankless task!) and been a faculty advocate on issues of pay and support for research. In regard to community outreach, you created the fine program, "Speaking Volumes." Some might say these accomplishments are merely the job description of a college professor, but it is rare to find excellence at each of these levels. From one who has loved UALR and the English Department, thanks and all best wishes for the future.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I send this note with thanks for your many splendid contributions to the field of early American literature and to the study of captivity narratives in particular. Congratulations on your retirement, and may you enjoy all the pleasures and delights of this well-earned free time!

    Michelle Burnham
    Santa Clara University

    ReplyDelete
  12. Dear Zabelle,

    I want you to know that I am deeply grateful for the mentoring you provided me during the difficult years of my pre-tenure period at GSU. Your kind help made all the difference! It goes without saying that your collegiality is well known in our discipline. In my own graduate and undergraduate seminars, your inspiring publications, esp. on the American captivity narrative, were tremendously useful to stimulate discussions. Our discipline of early American literature would not be the same without your contributions! Thank You, Zabelle.

    Reiner Smolinski
    Georgia State University

    ReplyDelete
  13. Best wishes upon your retirement! It's been a pleasure having your as an AHSS colleague for many years. Most recently, I have appreciated all your contributions to the Undergraduate Research team. I also remember positively our serving together on the Trinity Cathedral/Christ Church RAIN team in the early 90s. You will be missed on campus and in Little Rock. Becky joins me in wishing you and Bob a wonderful new chapter as you move to Maine. Best, Floyd Martin

    ReplyDelete
  14. The comments from your Little Rock colleagues match the feelings of those of us in the SEA--you are an inspiring scholar, a generous mentor and a friend.

    I hope that a move to Maine will only mean that those of us at the biennials will simply hear more from you on new archives and topics!

    All the best!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Congratulations, Zabelle. You have been a creative force in Early American Lit over the years and a leader in showing us ways to read texts by women, especially captivity narratives, critically and contextually. Welcome to the world of retirement!

    Neal Salisbury

    ReplyDelete
  16. Dear Zabelle,
    I am wishing you all the best for your "retirement" which in my view will be more like "transformation". I do appreciate so much your asking me to give papers with you on Rowlandson. From Chicago to England and back we have taken our trusty elkhide map to chart new courses for that venerable text, and we've had a wonderful time doing it. Am looking forward to you and Bob making a visit to Oklahoma before your remove to Maine. Once your captivity in the Academy has ended, you can write your way anywhere! Stay in touch.
    Affectionately,
    Betty Donohue

    ReplyDelete
  17. Zabelle,

    Congratulations. It's hard to realize that we've known each other for over twenty years. Your friendship and scholarship have been an important part of my own academic life. And I can't tell you what a thrill it is for my students when I tell them I know you when they cite your work--and what a thrill it is for me to get a bit of that glory by association.

    All the best in retirement, though as Kristina says, we hope this means just new stories at the SEA meetings.

    Tom Shields
    East Carolina University

    ReplyDelete
  18. Zabelle, congrats on your retirement and on your impending move to Maine (no more 109 degree days in July and August!!!!!), but Maine's gain is our loss. You're a great scholar and you've been a great colleague. Your presence has made us a much better university. Congratulations on an outstanding career.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Zabelle--how well I know the secret labors, the unadvertised assistance, the episodes of tactful encouragement to junior colleagues, the precisely worded readers reports designed to be helpful rather than simply judgment. You are the civilizing process incarnate. Though our contact has been piecemeal in recent years, I remember with pleasure those times a decade ago and earlier when we were in constant collaboration in the SEA. I treasured and still treasure your pragmatic approach to problems, your non-doctrinaire moral seriousness, your love of work, and your care for those around you. You have a fundamental appreciation of what life is about in its larger senses. & I admire the adventure with which you approach your time after academia! Here's hoping we meet again and often,
    David Shields

    ReplyDelete
  20. I’m grateful for all the deep thinking and heavy conceptual lifting you’ve brought to your field. I would not have written the Blue Tattoo: The Life of Olive Oatman if you hadn’t both paved the way and later helped me when I pushed on with my biography. Thank you for being so generous with your time and knowledge. Best wishes for a relaxing and rewarding retirement! warmly, Margot Mifflin

    ReplyDelete