Bryan R. Washington, 57, Doylestown Scholar And Author

Obituary via www.reedandsteinbach.com:

Bryan R. Washington, professor of late 19th and 20th century American literature and cultural studies, and a man of considerable wit, humor, style, elegance and charm, with a passion for the beauty and joy of some of life’s most abundant and finest offerings, died of cancer on December 31, 2015. He was 57.

The son of Dr. Joseph R. Washington, Jr. and the late Sophia M. Washington, Bryan was born in Boston, Mass. During his formative years, Bryan lived in numerous towns and cities, including Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Beloit, Wisconsin, Charlottesville, Virginia, Riverside California, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he attended the University of
Pennsylvania.

While at Penn, Bryan was a Benjamin Franklin Scholar; he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree (with honors) in General Literature in 1980. Penn served as a catalyst for Bryan’s graduate studies, which led him to complete his Masters Degree in English Literature at Christ Church, Oxford University in 1982 through Penn’s Thouron Award, a British-American exchange program that was established to “bring young people with exceptional ability from each country into contact with the ideas and peoples of another country.”

Bryan received his second Masters Degree in English and American Language at Harvard University in 1985. While pursuing his Ph.D at Harvard, Bryan was also a Minority Prize Fellow from 1982 -1987. Bryan received his Ph.D in English and American Literature and Language from Harvard in 1989. After completing his graduate studies, Bryan launched his academic career as an instructor at Lafayette College in 1987 and was promoted to Assistant Professor in 1989 after completing his Ph.D - during this time period, Bryan also served as a Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at Princeton University from 1991-1992. Bryan received a second promotion to Associate Professor with full tenure in 1994.

Bryan’s scholarly work includes the publication of a book entitled The Politics of Exile: The Ideology in Henry James, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and James Baldwin with Northeastern University Press, 1995. Bryan’s book was well received and widely cited. The book is considered by many to be one of the first works to position James Baldwin alongside white canonical American authors such as Henry James and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Northeastern University Press’s book preview states that “Bryan critically analyzes the writings of Henry James, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and James Baldwin and argues that the novels and essays of Baldwin are an ideal lens through which to examine the writings of the two American exiles of previous generations. Baldwin was a passionate reader of Henry James. However, as a racial “outsider”, Baldwin’s readiness to embrace the values and assumptions inherent in the so-called genteel bourgeois tradition is a paradox subject to intensive investigation.”

Bryan also authored several articles and reviews, including: “(Paris Blues(s) “, an essay on James Baldwin; and “WASP Mischief: Martha Stewart and the Racal Status Quo”. In addition, Bryan was in the process of writing a number of other works before he became ill, including two books: Cooking in the Eye of the Cat; and The Difference After Dark, Blackness in American Popular Culture.

Throughout his career at Lafayette, which spanned over a quarter century, Bryan received numerous honors, including the Student Government Superior Teaching Award in 1989-1990 and 1992-1993; this is an award that is given by graduating seniors, and it is rare for a professor to receive it twice.

Bryan also delivered numerous presentations at Lafayette on topics such as “Blacks in Popular Culture” and “Black Writers in the Classroom”. In May of 2014, Bryan was asked to deliver “The Last Lecture” (modeled after Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pautsch’s lecture and book of the same name) He was one of only a handful of professors asked to speak to graduating seniors; this was, sadly, Bryan’s last lecture and last professional engagement. The
title of the lecture was: “In the Course of It All: Life is Words”; this honor, along with the two student government teaching awards, suggests how deeply he was loved by his students - his courses were described by students, both majors and non-majors, as a “must take”, and were always over-enrolled, with students consistently remarking on student evaluations how he had changed their lives. They described him as inspiring, exciting, funny, and extremely smart.

Bryan once described his teaching in the following terms: “If asked what I aim to accomplish in the classroom, I would say I am trying for a good conversation. For in all my courses dialogue is a primary emphasis. I enjoy
lecturing, but my class presentations, generally, are designed to provoke dissuasion. Whether just beginning college work or about to finish, undergraduates (I believe) have something to teach me.”

As a resident of Doylestown, Bryan’s life also included jazz and the American songbook as a joy, metaphor and interpretation of his many passions: writing, literary criticism, food, art, “beautiful things,” and, of course, Paris. During most evenings, he could often be found playing his stereo or the piano and singing to Carmen McRae, Shirley Horn or other great jazz artists, while duck was in the oven (or some other scrumptious dish) along with a plate of pate and wine at the ready, all for the evening’s feast to be shared with Russell Clinton, his husband and life partner for 23 years, and, on many occasions, close friends.

During his stay fighting cancer in various hospitals and healthcare facilities, Bryan often said that the rooms that he was in were ‘simply awful’, and ‘he wants to go out in style’ - of course his care and room assignments were, in fact, top notch! But, we all know Bryan and his desire to be surrounded by beauty. So, what did he do to dress up his room(s)? He buys a beautifully designed Simon Pearce lamp for only a brief stay. And, at Christmas, even though he was unable to eat solid foods or drink liquids due to complications from the cancer, he had a bounty of epicurean delights delivered from Dean and Deluca for him to taste and smell, including his favorite wines and brandy, all for the decadence of it all, and to celebrate his favorite holiday in abundance with his dear Russell.

In addition to his husband, Russell Clinton, Bryan is survived by his father, Dr. Joseph R. Washington, Jr.; father-in-law, Bill Clinton; mother-in-law, Ruthann Clinton; brother, David Washington and his partner Christine Tramposch; Russell’s sister, Debbie McKayle; nephews, Calvin McKayle and Travis McKayle; niece, Kiara McKayle; and numerous other family members and friends.

A celebration of Bryan’s life will be held on Friday, January 29th at 4:00 p.m., Buckingham Friends School, 5684 York Road, Lahaska, PA.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania Annual Fund, Attention Penn Medicine Development, 3535 Market Street, Suite 750, Philadelphia, PA 19104 or online at www.cancer.pennmedicine.org.