Alan Roger Young

Alan Roger Young, Emeritus Professor of English at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, was born on January 25, 1941, in Chelmsford, England, to Robert Alec Young and Phyllis (Siggers) Young. His parents encouraged his lifelong love of music, and Alan often accompanied his father’s piano playing with his violin. He played the piano until multiple sclerosis made playing with his left hand impossible, and he was listening to music in the hospital in his final days.

Alan attended Bristol University, where he received a B.A. (Hons) in 1963. After Bristol, he went to East Africa, where he received a Diploma in Education from Makerere University in Uganda in 1964, and taught in Kenya from 1964 to 1966 under the Teachers For East Africa scheme, a joint Anglo-American programme. While there he briefly became an Outward Bound Instructor that led a party up Kilimanjaro. The years in Africa were fondly remembered in his 2014 memoir, Roads Taken. He left Africa with many memories, friends, a wonderful pumpkin pie recipe from the Americans he met, and a love of teaching.

Upon his return to England He pursued an MA in English at the University of East Anglia in Norwich in 1967. With his M.A. in hand, he left England for Canada to join the English Department at the newly established Simon Fraser University from 1967-68. There he realized that he would need a PhD for a successful career in English studies, and he entered the PhD programme in the English Department at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, where he achieved his degree in a record two years. It was from Edmonton that he made his journey to the other side of Canada to take up a teaching position at Acadia University in 1970.

Alan had a long and successful career at Acadia, where he taught Shakespeare at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, but he also developed a teaching interest in the literature of Atlantic Canada, one that extended to research projects on both Ernest Buckler and Thomas Raddall. His students were richly rewarded by his training and experience. He was an early adopter of computer pedagogy in the classroom and worked on the Acadia Advantage Program, which pioneered the classroom use of mobile computers in post-secondary education.

Alan was also a successful administrator. He was Head of Department from 1987 to 1994, a member of Senate, and a member of numerous committees both at the university and department level. His administrative gifts were also appreciated at national and international levels at conferences and in organizations.

His sabbatical leaves were undertaken for various research projects. He was Longman Visiting Fellow in the Institute of Bibliography and Textual Criticism at the University of Leeds from 1976 to 77, and he was also a Visitor at Mansfield College, Oxford, during those same years. He was a Visiting Fellow in the Department of English at Princeton University in 1991-92, and then worked at the Folger Shakespeare Library during his sabbatical in 1996-7.

Most of all, Alan was a scholar, meticulous in his research, capacious in his breadth of interest, and innovative in his work. He was always interested in the relationship between word and image, whether in his longstanding work on emblem literature, his book on Hamlet and the Visual Arts, his Ophelia gallery of images, or his book on Punch and Shakespeare, an examination of the satirical cartoons in Punch, the nineteenth-century British weekly magazine of humour. His last book, Steam Driven Shakespeare, extends his interest to the widening audience for Shakespeare in the nineteenth century with the advent of the steam driven press. A Google search of Alan R Young will turn up numerous references to either books, chapters in books, or articles. He was always in the middle of a project.

Alan was diagnosed with late onset secondary progressive multiple sclerosis at the age of 57. He soon took early retirement, believing that he would be able to teach part-time but devote most of his time to research and writing. He taught part-time in Continuing Education at Acadia and also at SCANS where he impressed his students with his showing and comparing various film interpretations of Shakespeare plays, again emphasizing the relationship between image and word. Most of his post-retirement years were spent on research and publication.

Alan loved music, as was already noted. He also enjoyed photography, and in this regard built his own dark room in his Wolfville house where he developed some remarkable photos. These will be cherished by his family.

In 1998, he and his wife, Wendy Katz, moved from Wolfville to Halifax so that she could walk to work at Saint Mary’s University after commuting for twenty years. He enjoyed condo living, his wonderful view of the Atlantic from the dining room window, and life in the city. He contributed to condo life as a member of the Board for several years.

Alan loved the outdoors, and he was a young Rambler in England. He and his family enjoyed the beautiful Annapolis Valley area, walking or biking on the dykelands while he was still able to pursue such activities. He took great pleasure in the verdant area of Nova Scotia that is the Annapolis Valley.

Alan and Wendy spent about 20 post-retirement winter seasons in Florida in a condo community. There they developed warm and strong friendships with other retirees, and spent time playing bridge, taking opera classes, going to political talks, going out to eat, or gathering for a barbecue. In the last few years, he was part of a men’s Thursday lunch club. These friends were extremely supportive and loyal as his physical and, recently, mental state began to decline.

Alan leaves behind his devoted and loving wife, best friend and soul mate, Wendy Katz, his loving children Julian (Sharon) Young, Eleanor Young, and Eric Katz; his grandchildren, Austin Fraser and Madeleine Young, and his sisters Celia (Denis) Murphy in British Columbia, and Janet (Bernard, deceased) Parris in England. As well, he leaves many loving nieces and nephews, who will miss him.

No lengthy list of Alan’s accomplishments can do justice to the man who was, beyond all this, a devoted, kind, and good husband, father, grandfather, uncle and friend. All who knew him valued his penetrating intelligence and capacity for hard work, but also his gentleness and his modesty. He never once complained about his growing physical limitations brought about by his MS. For all of his married life, he was simply adored by his wife.

Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, February 21, 2023, at 11 am at Cruikshank’s Funeral Home on Windsor Street, Halifax. It will be live streamed. Donations can be made to Feed Nova Scotia, Mazon, or any food pantry.

No flowers please.