Steven MacDonald Strang

Steve was born in 1947 in Bangor, ME to Pastor Homer James Strang and Gwen "GeGe" Strang (Steve was an avowed lifelong atheist). He attended the University of Maine, graduating with a B.A. in English with highest distinction in 1969, he completed an A.M. in English at Brown University in 1971 and a PhD in English at Brown University in 1981. Steve was a born writer and began his career as a journalist and columnist with the Bangor Daily News in Maine (1965-1970) before embarking on an illustrious teaching and academic career spanning over 51 years. He taught all forms of writing and rhetoric at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for 40 years. In 1981 he founded and directed MIT’s Writing and Communications Center (WCC). He was the author of Writing Exploratory Essays (Mayfield 1995 and Freeload 2007). His fiction and poems were published in such journals as the Beacon Review, Footwork, The Cathartic, Poetry Today, Muse's Brew Poetry Review, Mystery Time, Poets, Nexus, and Nit and Wit. He published literary criticism and pedagogical articles in such journals as College Composition Communication, Issues in Writing, The Alaska Quarterly Review, and Cithara.

Steve would say he was a writer at heart, but those he taught knew his true calling was teaching. He inspired generations of writers, both novice and professional, to develop and perfect their craft. His generosity of spirit in supporting students, friends and family was unwavering. He continued to mentor and coach while battling a long illness, and maintained his rye and often punny sense of humor until the end.

Steve’s work was his passion, but his wife Ayni was his entire world. Steven and Ayni met in 1988 and spent nearly every day of the next 36 years together. Steve cherished Ayni and called her his angel. He adopted her two children Elly and Marta Peimer in 1993 and raised them as his own.

Surviving, in addition to his cherished wife Ayni, son Elly and daughter Marta, are Elly’s wife Elizabeth and their two children Emmeline “Emme” and Eloise “Lulu” of Rhode Island, Marta’s partner Ashton and their children Saul and Shoshanna of New York, a niece Mirit and her husband Ido and their two children Ella and Emme of California, and two nephews Ayal, his wife Luda and son Ray, and Oren, his wife Amit and daughter Arielle of Israel, a cousin Barbilyn and her husband, Cony, of North Carolina, and additional cousins in New England and New York.

A Memorial Service for Steven will be held January 11, 2025 at Noon EST (1200) at J.S. Waterman Langone Chapel, 580 Commercial Street, Boston, MA, 02109. Live streaming of the service and/or condolences for the family: www.watermanboston.com Lieu of flowers donations in Steve’s memory can be made to: The Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals