Laurence Alan Goldstein

Laurence Alan Goldstein peacefully passed away Sunday, April 16, in Ann Arbor with his loving wife Nancy and sons Andrew and Jonathan at his side. The cause of death was an overwhelming bacterial infection.

Larry was born in Los Angeles and graduated from UCLA, later earning a PhD from Brown University. He joined the faculty of the University of Michigan’s department of English Language and Literature in 1970 and retired as Professor Emeritus in 2016. Beginning his career at Michigan as a specialist in the field of British Romanticism, Larry moved on to offer such courses as Modern Poetry and Contemporary Poetry, and undergraduate and graduate seminars in a variety of specialized topics such as William Faulkner’s fiction, the literature of Detroit, the literature of Los Angeles, Hollywood and Visual Culture, and the literature of the city. Graduate students whom he mentored--as well as undergraduates--kept in touch over the years from their careers and lives around the world, writing to let him know that they remembered his generous gifts of teaching. As a poet and literary critic and historian, he authored, edited, and co-edited 16 well-reviewed books and authored dozens of essays and book and film reviews. An essay on the mystery word “Rosebud” in Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane and another on poets’ fascination with Marilyn Monroe, both published recently, testify to Larry’s abiding interest in films. While at UCLA, Larry was arts editor for the Daily Bruin, seeking out interviews with local movie industry notables such as director Billy Wilder and Stan Laurel (Laurel and Hardy) and his stories about meeting them and others were fascinating. As an undergraduate, and later in his career, he wrote several book reviews and op-ed pieces for the Los Angeles Times, and later for The New York Times. At Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, he forged lifelong friendships, while studying, apprentice teaching, and founding a poetry magazine as well as writing book and film reviews for The Providence Journal.

In addition to teaching and writing at the University of Michigan, Larry delighted in his secondary position: “My 32 years as editor of the University’s flagship scholarly and creative arts journal, Michigan Quarterly Review, is arguably the defining accomplishment of my tenure at the University of Michigan. I changed it from a literary magazine to an interdisciplinary journal reflecting the diversity of subjects studied at the university. . . . attracting notable U of M talent as well as Nobel Prize winners and renown writers such as Arthur Miller, Toni Morrison, Joyce Carol Oates, Tom Wolfe and others. I am especially pleased to have introduced many now-eminent authors to the reading public.”

Throughout life Larry and Nancy and sons travelled widely and sometimes he wrote poems about his travels. He also loved hearth and home, hosting family and friends for occasions and greeting folks on his regular walks through the Old West Side neighborhood where they live. Larry especially loved baseball but also was a Go Blue football fan, always wearing his lucky MICHIGAN shirt to watch the games on TV, thrusting a fist in the air to the cheers from the Big House, quite audible in his comfy OWS home.

Larry leaves to mourn his wife Nancy, son Andrew (partner Heidi Yahr) and granddaughters Ella and Maya, and son Jonathan and grandchildren Paislee and Cooper. Other survivors include dear sister-in-law Norma Krueger and cousins Mike and Akemi Spivack, among many other beloved family and friends.

Memorial tributes may be made to Hospice of Lenawee www.hospiceoflenawee.org, Alzheimer’s Association, or to the Michigan Quarterly Review.