Samuel Gerald Langford, Professor Emeritus
of English, died April 18, 2003. Jerry, as he was called by
friends and family, came to The University of Texas in 1946 after
service
in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II.
Jerry was born on October 20, 1911, in Montgomery, Alabama,
and grew up in Savannah, Georgia, graduating from Savannah
High School in
June of 1929. With the assistance of a Dupont Scholarship, he attended
the University of Virginia, which awarded him three degrees, B.A.
(1933), M.A. (1934), and Ph.D. in English (1940). While completing
his Ph.D., Jerry taught at the University of Kentucky, at North
Carolina State College, and at Winthrop College. The focus
of his graduate
study was Renaissance English literature: he wrote his master’s
thesis on revenge tragedy and his doctoral dissertation on John
Barclay. At Virginia he also served as editor of The University
of Virginia
Magazine and actively pursued his interest in writing short fiction,
publishing his first story while still an undergraduate in 1932.
Many stories followed over the next three decades in such distinguished
journals as The Georgia Review and The Prairie Schooner.
As Professor of English at The University of Texas, Jerry combined
creative writing with literary scholarship. His daily pattern over
many years was to teach in the morning, write in the afternoon,
and grade papers in the evening. His scholarship was wide-ranging – from
biography to textual criticism -- and never seemed to him essentially
different from his creative writing. In an extended interview that
appeared in the Austin American Statesman for October 29, 1961, Jerry
remarked: “I don’t believe you can distinguish between
creative writing and any other kind of writing. Any writer takes
the raw materials of facts and experience from which he works, and
perceives and interprets and uses his imagination.” It was
on this principle that Jerry wrote the first scholarly biography
of O. Henry, Alias O. Henry. A Biography of William Sidney
Porter,
published by Macmillan in 1957 and widely acclaimed. Thoroughly researched,
providing new information about Porter’s early years as well
as fresh, concrete evidence in assessing the embezzlement charge
that sent Porter to prison, Jerry’s biography is the basis
for all later studies of Porter’s life and work. There followed
in rapid succession during the early 1960’s three more books:
The Richard Harding Davis Years (1961), The Murder
of Stanford White (1962), and Ingenue Among the Lions (1965), an edition of
the letters
of Emily Clark to Joseph Hergesheimer, published by The University
of Texas Press.
While pursuing these studies of American life and letters and writing
more short stories of his own, Jerry turned his attention to the
William Faulkner collection in the Humanities Research Center.
The results in the early 1970’s were two companion volumes assessing
Faulkner’s creative process: Faulkner’s Revision of Absalom!
Absalom! (1971) and Faulkner’s Revision of Sanctuary (1972),
both published by The University of Texas Press. During the last
decade before his retirement from full-time teaching, Jerry devoted
himself to fiction, completing his remarkable novel Destination in
1981. Described by one of its first readers as “haunting” and “beautifully
written,” Destination tells the story of Savannah native Lee
Griffin, who returns home to find that his memories do not quite
match the city’s realities.
When Griffin crosses Gaston Street and enters
drowsing old Forsyth Park again, it could almost be his first
visit. Yesterday he
had eyes only for the big fountain ahead – a copy in
white-painted iron of one in the Place de la Concorde. Today
he takes his time,
dutifully observant. The main promenade still tunnels beneath
overarching oaks hung with streamers of gray moss, and the
park is as implausible
in its picturesqueness as a stage setting for some outmoded
play about the Old South. Nothing is changed except that it
all seems
so much smaller, so much less labyrinthine, than he has remembered
it through the years.
And yet the city does become a labyrinth in which Lee can now
hardly find his way, at one point in the narrative falling
down, as his
feet misremember the terrain. “There is a violent jolt and
he finds himself sprawled flat, with his face against the gritty
hardness of cement. His knees and the palms of his hands burn from
the abrasion. Perplexedly he feels around himself until his hand
encounters a drop-off – a curb it is.” The parks and
streets of the city come to life in the novel as they engage with
the memories of the story’s perplexed and disoriented
hero.
Shortly after Destination appeared, Jerry was named Professor
Emeritus of English. In his letter recommending the appointment,
Department
Chair Joseph J. Moldenhauer wrote: “Dr. Langford’s record
of creative and scholarly publication has graced both him and his
institution.” Professor Moldenhauer goes on to comment on Jerry’s
36 years of service to the English Department: “His service
to the Department included his editorship of Corral, an annual of
student creative writing, and his labors on the Creative Writing
Committee and writing context judging panels.” Jerry was very
proud of the Corral, for which he secured endowed funding, because
he always wanted to support the first literary steps of student writers.
For many years the backbone of the Department’s creative writing
program, Jerry also taught American literature and contributed to
the Department in a host of other ways, including a term of service
as associate chair of the Department. In his emeritus years, Jerry
continued to be active, and could regularly be seen coming and going
from the Parlin Hall office that he shared with Emeritus Professor
Edwin Bowden. The distinction that Jerry Langford’s career
lent to the English Department may be indicated by his presence in
major directories of scholars and writers: Directory
of American Scholars, Who’s Who in the South and Southwest, American Authors
Today, Dictionary of International Biography, International Scholars
Directory, Men of Achievement, The World Who’s Who of Authors,
Writer’s Directory, The Directory of British and American
Writers. Jerry was also elected to the Authors League of America
and to the
Texas Institute of Letters.
Jerry Langford brought to the English Department creativity,
dedication, and generosity that enriched the lives of his colleagues
and his
students. For his legacy of publication, teaching, and service,
the English Department will always be grateful.
Books by Gerald Langford
Alias O. Henry. A Biography
of William Sidney Porter (1957) The Richard Harding Davis Years (1961) The Murder of Sanford White (1962) Ingenue Among the Lions (1965) Faulkner’s Revisions of Absalom! Absalom! (1971) Faulkner’s Revisions of Sanctuary (1972) Destination (1981)
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____________________________
Larry R. Faulkner, President
The University of Texas at Austin
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____________________________
John R. Durbin, Secretary
The General Faculty
This memorial resolution was prepared by a special committee consisting
of Professor James D. Garrison (chair) and Professor Emeritus
Edwin T. Bowden
