Gainst death and all-oblivious enmity Shall you pace forth; your praise shall still nd room Even

in the eyes of all posterity That wear this world out to the ending doom. So, till the judgment that yourself arise, You live in this, and dwell in lovers eyes. Shakespeare, Sonnet 55

This book of remembrances is for youAmy, Owen, Vincent, and Rosalind. Scores of people who knew Chrisadministrators, faculty members, but mostly students past and presentcontributed to it. As these reminiscences show, many respected and loved him as a teacher and scholar and, even more important, as a human being. Shakespeares sonnet 55 is about the power of art, but we could also take it to represent the power of a book: the power, through reading, to keep memory alive in spite of death. Chris will live in this book, and as long as there are persons to read it, from your generation to the next and the next after that, he will dwell in the eyes of those who loved him and of those who read of this love. John McBratney Chair, Department of English

In Me moriam

1961 2012

Chris Roark

Dr. Christopher Roark, Associate Professor of English, passed away unexpectedly on the evening of June 15. The cause of death was a heart attack. Having received his doctorate in English from the State University of New York, Buffalo, Dr. Roark came to John Carroll University in 1990. He served as Chair of the English Department from 2003 to 2007. He taught courses primarily in Shakespeare, Renaissance literature, and African American literature. A demanding but popular and innovative teacher, he won the Lucrezia Culicchia Award for Teaching Excellence in 2008. As a Shakespeare specialist, he sought to bring the stage into the classroom, showing his students lms of Shakespeares dramas and requiring them to act out scenes from Shakespeares plays. Brimming with physical and intellectual energy, he was, according to one student, a study in perpetual motion. No one worked harder at helping students to read and write better. He was also an untiring citizen of the university. At the time of his death, he was close to completing a book about how African American authors use Shakespeare in their works for their own aesthetic and cultural purposes. He is survived by his wife, Amy, and their three children: Owen, Vincent, and Rosalind.

Jesse Capps 00
When I press myself for an anecdote, quote, or quip that summarizes Chris Roark, none come to mind. All I keep thinking about are the qualities that made him an exceptional teacher and a trusted friend and attempting to give some short, clever example only leaves me frustrated. He was intelligent, complicated, and demanding in a way that fostered and inspired my loyalty. Chris had no interest in residing in the false consolation in the majority consensus; his opinions were almost always based on logic and solid ethics. Small and petty minds bristled at his presence a fool felt quite foolish when Chris was around. While consistent in action and beliefs, Chris thought it was more important to be right than to be consistent. In other words, his classroom (and personal discourse with me) exempli ed the lesson of adapting when new information is present. Chris Roark was one of the most powerful natural and intellectual forces in my life. He edited and assisted my presentation paper and Fulbright Scholarship application. He was a mentor and a friend. He changed my life and both of us knew he was changing my life during my short tenure as a student at the University. Chris understood his obvious in uence and power over his apprentices. And because he knew how to use this power, because he shared himself with us, because he was a man of justice and art among other things is why we loved him. I have lost my king. I have lost a kind and gentle ruler whom I could go to for advice. I have lost someone I could have conversations with about art. We have lost someone who holds justice, intellectual inquiry, and artistic expression as cornerstones of a moral life. If only all kings were such a man. For Owen, Vincent, and Rosalind Your fathers face would light up when he spoke of you to me. He enjoyed batting practice in the backyard because he wanted you to remember important advice for the rest of your life: Keep your eye on the ball. He said this because he believed it was a vital lesson. Your father was a man of great focus, intensity, and integrity. He wished for you to always do your best. It was a wonderful experience to watch your father spend time with you and witness his expressions of wisdom and a ection.

Cierra Perry 12
Dr. Roark was one of the rst and best professors that I had at John Carroll University. Dr. Roark taught me to see both sides of an argument and to support the strong side objectively. Dr. Roark helped me to become a strong writer. He made me see the hidden meanings in writings and Shakespearean texts that were not obviously noticeable. Dr. Roark was very understanding and motivating. A er completing one of his assignments, I would feel like I accomplished something wonderful. ere was never a semester that I did not have class with Dr. Roark because I made sure of it. He would o en say in class, See the ball; hit the ball. One of Dr. Roarks best attributes was his unending sense of humor. I loved how he would demonstrate in class how to sword ght and get on the ground and roll around. Dr. Roark would allow his students to act out Shakespearean plays and this was very engaging. e way that he lectured on Shakespeare was magni cent. He introduced Shakespeare to me in an abstract way that was inspiring and engaging. Dr. Roark o en mentioned his family and how much he loved them. He was very much a humanitarian. What I learned in Dr. Roarks courses will stay with me forever. I will always remember Dr. Roark.

Dr. Christopher Stuart 92

I was shocked and saddened to read of Dr. Roarks death. I was a grad student in my second year when he was in his rst year at JCU. He was the kid in the department. He had the o ce next to mine (as a T.A.). He was as cheerful and nice as could be, and I heard good things about his classes, also that he was tough. I heartily resented it when he failed me on a section of the M.A. exam, but looking back on it, I know that I thoroughly deserved it and that the resentment was misplaced. He made the right call. I feel terrible for what I read was his very young family. I never took a class from him, and I wasnt close to him, but the man I remember was always smiling, energetic, and demanding of his students in the best way.

Suzanne Bardasz 05
Dear Dr. Roark, You may not remember me, but I was one of the countless number of students you taught at JCU. I took your Major British Writers course in my sophomore year, not because I was an English major, but because your course ful lled the core requirements that I needed in order to graduate. To be honest, I have forgotten about you and your class. Not because your class was not good or the teaching was not superb, it was because life got in the way, and like other 20 year olds, I had other thoughts and plans in my mind that perhaps a course in Shakespeare was not going to solve or help! However, you did come to my mind a few days ago while walking to work and thinking about the classes I am teaching. Midterms are fast approaching here and it is usually the time where I have to start assessing students participation and ask for students thoughts regarding the class. I remember that around midterm time at JCU, you also did the same thing. You handed out a piece of paper and asked us to write down the participation grade that we think we deserved and to justify that grade. is was revolutionary because no other professor before (or a er taking your class) ever asked my opinion about my role in the classroom and how I thought I was doing in the class. Little did I know that several years later, I would learn that what you did has o cial terminology: re ection, student autonomy and responsibility, and taking ownership. Although you passed away a few months ago, I just learned about your death last night. Because of this, other memories are ooding back to me about things you did in class that I took for granted as a student. ere are two things that immediately come to mind: 1) Making us memorize a passage from one of Shakespeares sonnets for an exam. Having us write down those lines and then analyzing those lines word-by-word, sentence-by-sentence and then having us recite those lines out loud in class with appropriate enthusiasm and drama. 2) Asking us to bring a CD copy of our favorite song so you would compile it to one CD that you would play before class begins. You even took the time to write out the lyrics to the songs we gave you in order to dissect the meaning of those lyrics (a true English professor!) and to nd out why we chose those songs. From those examples, we can add more o cial terminology: having passion towards what you teach and showing interest in your students, which are two things that I hold dear to my heart as a teacher. So, thank you Dr. Roark, wherever you are. Nearly 10 years later, I can say that not only I learned a lot about Shakespeare and other British writers, but I unconsciously learned how to teach from you.

Paul Lauritzen Professor, Department of Theology & Religious Studies

Dear Owen, Vincent, and Rosalind, I want to share a story with you about your dad. It is a story about his kindness and generosity, which I hope you will always remember about him. Quite a few years ago, I was just starting to ride my bicycle in a serious way. I was not in very good shape and got tired pretty quickly, especially on hills. Back then, one of our colleagues in the math department, Bob Kolesar, organized two long bike rides every year. I decided to ride on one of those rides. About thirty miles into the ride, I was really struggling. I was very tired, my butt was sore, my feet hurt, and we were just starting up a big hill. Just as I was thinking I would give up, your dad rode up next to me. Now your dad was a very strong rider. He didnt look tired at all. But unlike the other strong riders, he didnt just breeze right by me. He slowed down and rode with me for a couple of miles. He encouraged me not to give up. He helped me get up that hill, just by talking to me. He gave me advice about how to ride so my hands and feet wouldnt hurt. I am grateful to your dad for that help. I didnt complete all 75 miles of the ride that day, but I did make it to 50 miles, which is many more than I would have completed had it not been for your dads kindness in riding with me. I am still riding today, which might not be true if I had given up on that hill long ago. Your dads generosity in helping me kept me from giving up.

Alyssa Fligge 12
Dr. Roark was an incredibly dedicated scholar and asset to the John Carroll University English Department. I thank him for his investment in helping students in higher education, his tough but high expectations, his witty sense of humor, and his passion for literature. I will never forget the sword ghting scenes in class, multiple ways to interpret a single word, common themes in literature, Shakespearean sexual innuendos, and Kenneth Branagh lm clips :). One thing that I remember was his options when it came to tests--either participate in the tough memorization, writing, and analysis of the essay test, OR act out a scene/perform the oral exam that involved memorizing x amount of lines. Even though both options were a challenge, the acting and oral exam options (which I took every time they were o ered) required me to practice for hours on end, as well as harness creativity and memorizing abilities that I did not even know I had. And even when his own mother passed and he dealt with serious family matters, he still kept us on track and made himself available to our needs as his students. I am forever grateful for his advice, life lessons, literature knowledge, and humor. He made me into a stronger and more analytic reader, writer, and now teacher. His ability to motivate, inspire, and challenge through literature will be his continuing legacy. He will be greatly missed.

Brittany Ramsey 15
Dr. Roark was my advisor last year, my freshman year at John Carroll. He was so helpful to me and did everything he could to make sure I was doing well and adjusting. He walked with me on our meetings and asked about my life. He really got to know me as a person and not just as a student. In short, he cared. Many of my friends complained about their advisors and I was blessed to have had the best advisor. Dr. Roark allowed me to be involved in the Writing Center at John Carroll and urged me to become involved. He has made a profound impact on my life. I will never forget him. I know he will be proud of me when I study abroad in London in the spring. e English Department has lost a wonderful asset. I was devastated to hear about his passing and I give my best regards to his family. He spoke of you so fondly.

Tanya Pilumeli 95 , 97G

As a freshman Dr. Roark handed me Strunk and White and let me know just how much work I had to do to be up to standard. I learned more about delving into literature in his Shakespeare class than any other class I had at JCU. He was hard-working and inspiring. I am very saddened at his sudden passing but will remember him as a truly great teacher and mentor.

Joe Hatgas 98, 05G

I am so sorry to hear about the passing of Dr. Roark. He was a gi ed professor and one who expected and got a lot out of his students. I was one of those students whom he pushed to do things better than I thought I could. I had Dr. Roark for several undergrad and graduate classes including Shakespeare classes and African-American literature classes. He was also my advisor for the graduate essay I completed on Toni Morrison. It was at that time in my life that I found out what the track changes button was on Microso Word. He would relentlessly highlight sections of my essay and ask questions about why I thought a certain thing or whether I had considered another interpretation of that part. He was great at challenging me to think deeper, something I sometimes found irritating, but something that made me a better critical thinker. Im pretty sure that is why many students avoided his classes. You sure couldnt skate by in Roarks class. Probably my best memory, however, was when I opted to act out a scene from Hamlet instead of taking the nal exam, thinking that this would be less work. Once again, Dr. Roark made sure that another student and I, he Hamlet, and I Laertes, would not get o so easily. He had us meet him several times to make sure we were being true to the text and that we thought of every detail in the great ght scene. Im pretty sure we did more work than the essayists in the class, but under Dr. Roarks direction we brought to life a moment of Shakespeare that was thrilling and so much fun. e rugburn from the duel has since le me, but that great memory lives on as does my fondness for a great teacher and an outstanding person. He will be missed.

Monica Orlando 05 , 08G

I took Stuart Literature with Dr. Roark in Spring 2004, and very much enjoyed having him as a professor. His unique paper assignments helped me grow as a writer, especially in terms of cutting out wordiness (I still have my graded assignment les where he crossed out all sorts of unnecessary things! He probably still would have plenty to cross out in my writing). He clearly cared about his students and used some innovative teaching techniques--I remember our class discussions that incorporated an inner and outer circle which alternated each class, with di erent requirements for students in the di erent sections; we also read passages from the plays allowed, and we were required to take turns jotting class notes to provide to the rest of the students. I also remember that our overhead projector didnt work on the rst day of class, and he had to transition, e ciently of course, to Plan B--a moment that always comes to mind for me as a teacher now myself when technology doesnt work or things dont go as planned. When I was graduating with my B.A. in English, Dr. Roark encouraged me to apply to John Carrolls M.A. program, and a er a year o , I ended up doing exactly that, to my own surprise. He was very helpful to me in providing guidance and feedback on my application materials, and although I didnt have any classes with him during grad school, I remember meeting with him as chair to touch base, and he was always supportive. I also had a summer assistantship with him one year, and helped by lineediting the manuscript he was working on, about jazz musics in uence on African-American writers. Finally, I remember seeing the Roark kids running around the English Department occasionally (with all of the other children--there were a lot of little ones around then!), but I also remember that Amy was in my Romantic Literatureclass with Dr. Clancey when she was pregnant with Owen (Fall 2003, right before Dr. Clancey died), and I remember her bringing him in a er Dr. Roarks class one day when he was a very little baby. I have very fond memories of Dr. Chris Roark and the Roark family in general, and I am glad to have come in contact with a talented teacher and a great man.

Michael Reiser 12
No one teacher put more e ort and time in to make you a more critical reader and a stronger writer than Dr. Roark. No one could match his energy. If his children have the energy, passion, and determination their father had in his pinky nger, they will surely go on to do great things in the world. RIP Chris Roark.

Michael Murray 12
I have lost much more than a Shakespeare professor; I have lost a mentor, a father gure, someone who constantly challenged me in and outside of the classroom, and more than anything -- I have lost a friend. I met Chris in January 2011 through taking his Intro Shakespeare class. I remember immediately being drawn to him because of the way he carried himself. He was always early for class, but o en forgot to bring his own pen. He would always begin each class with an audio or video clip taken from a play. He liked everyone to sit in a semi-circle so that no one could hide in the back -- and if you didnt complete the reading for that class, you would be better o not showing up. I remember receiving an 18-page course description about a day a er New Years even though his class wouldnt begin for another two weeks. I remember thinking, Who is this guy, doesnt he have a life?! I later found out that Chris had an incredible life. I began seeing him all over the place either on his bike or with Amy and his three children. Chris used his family quite o en while teaching. While instructing the class on how to correctly write one of his dreaded essay dra s, Chris told us, So I coach my sons t-ball team, and I tell them all they have to do to hit the ball is to see the ball ... see the ball, hit the ball -- thats all you need to do folks. Only Chris could relate t-ball to a 500-word test essay. Another time, I asked him if he had seen the movie Anonymous and he responded with, Ive got kids Mike, I dont have time for movies. Ill end this post with some more of my favorite Roark quotes (which I still have saved in a document on my computer). I would have never imagined myself acting in front of a classroom until I took Chris class. Myself, and another student named Christin Van Atta acted out two scenes in two separate classes with him. We worked incredibly hard on our performance, and before we were allowed to perform in front our class, we had to meet with Chris and rehearse to make sure he approved of our blocking techniques. e rst time we rehearsed, Chris wasnt satis ed with the amount of physical contact during a sword ghting scene, and to show me, he li ed me up into the air, sword in hand, and slammed me against the chalkboard. I didnt know whether to laugh or cry. Sword ghting was something Chris took very seriously -- he didnt believe in playing -- it had to be the real deal. Another time Christin and I rehearsed with Chris, I had attempted to don what I thought to be a pretty decent British accent and the only criticism he had was, looks great guys -- Mike, lose the accent. is past semester was extremely rough for a multitude of reasons, but most signi cantly, my youngest sister who has epilepsy underwent a series of tests, which resulted in an extremely di cult and invasive brain operation. Chris somehow found out about this and sought me out. I spent a little under two hours with him in his o ce talking about everything -- that might have been the crowning moment when Chris became more than a professor, he had become my friend. I met my girlfriend in Chris Intro Shakespeare class. She absolutely adored Chris. We both took his class this past semester but were in di erent sections. Right a er either one of us got out of his class we would text each other our favorite Roark Quotes. It even got to the point where I would record lectures on my iPhone just to play them back and listen to them a er. Halle and I attended the play, Our Greatest Year, solely to support Chris. I think many would agree that during the weeks leading up to that performance, Chris was in super-overdrive mode. He was obsessed with making sure that the Dobama eatre would be packed each night. My girlfriend and I couldnt care less about sports (sorry) but we attended the play opening night, and I will never forget Chris introduction, and the amount of excitement that was beaming from his smile. He was so proud of Bob and (continued)

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Michael Murray 12 (continued) Scott, I will never forget that. ere was a huge poster in the OMalley hallway for the play and I joked to myself about how Chris was probably going to take it home and put it above his replace, that was until I was wandering down the hallway one morning and I actually saw Chris rolling it up and preparing to take it home. I graduated this past May, and wrote quite a few thank you notes to di erent professors and faculty members within the University. When I wrote Chris, it took me a very long time. I commented on how he inspired me to become someone like him -- a father, husband, friend, and professor. I even told him that Halle (my girlfriend) and I agreed that if we ever got married, that Chris would be the one to act as chaplain. Chris once told the class that he hated taking his shoes (Adidas Sambas) o when entering other peoples homes, and that it drove Amy nuts. I wrote in my thank you note that if he married us, he could wear his Sambas. One of the last times I physically saw Chris, he was in the John Carroll gym with his children playing soccer. To close this, I wanted to pass on one nal humorous memory I have of Chris. It was the last week of class, and everyone was checked out. Chris was desperately trying to divulge the imagery of a poem in which the poet was writing about the lines of the poem representing a lute, or guitar. e entire class couldnt have cared less and no one understood what he was talking about. Chris had had enough of the silence in the room, so he grabbed the cruci x o the wall, turned it on its side and yelled, think about it folks -- whats a cross if its turned to the side? A guitar! I almost fell out of my chair with laughter. e next two are direct quotes: Being an English major is like being a little limb of Satan. CR On the notion of good and evil in the world: If there was no evil in the world, there would be no such thing as English majors and everyone would be running around naked smoking pot. CR I responded to the last quote by telling Chris that what he described was what I sought by going to Phish concerts, he laughed really hard for a minute and responded with, Sorry Mike, the Grateful Dead already tried that -- it didnt work. To Amy, Owen, Vincent, and Rosalind, I have so many things to say that will have to wait, all I can say now is that your husband and father was deeply loved and adored by so many -- and I will never forget everything he taught me, and all the times he made me smile. I only knew Chris for two years, but as Robert Frost once wrote, happiness makes up in height what it lacks in length.

Katie Homar 07
Ill never forget the day I met Dr. Roark. It was a er an orientation and I went to the English Department with a question about transfer credit. A tall, smiling professor walked in and said that he was the department chair. Dr. Roark not only answered my question but looked at my placement test scores and suggested that I sign up for an advanced Spanish course. He even walked me to the registration desk. Dr. Roarks advice was very helpful: During my career at JCU, I decided to pursue a Spanish minor in addition to my English major. Knowing Spanish also helped me in grad school. Im glad to have met and worked with Dr. Roark at JCU. He will be missed by the entire Carroll community.

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Kate Kick 99G

Dear Owen, Vincent, and Rosalind, I have never met you, but I imagine that each of you has some of your dads wonderful attributes: his love of laughter, his kindness to friends and students, his stature, his enthusiasm. As you grow, know that you carry the best of your father--a great man--with you even when you cant remember, exactly, the sound of his voice or the feel of his skin. You will have his laughter, his eyes, his intellect. It doesnt make sense why he has le us. Be strong and know that you are richly blessed in this life because he was your father. You carry his legacy and he would be so proud of who you will become someday.

Patrick Shanahan
Dr. Roark was a demanding and engaging professor. As a teacher, he made Shakespeare accessible and Morrison intriguing. He would play music at the start of each class, then segue into fascinating lectures covering the days topic. Dr. Roarks classes were among the most memorable for me; there is only sadness le in the wake of his passing.

Maggie Henderson 11
I am humbled to have been his student. I remember, with awe, his busy schedule that packed in many activities, but most notably, faith, family, and academia. And he gave students his all. He never le a moment unused. e questions that he inspired students to ask continue in my thought process and I know in the minds of other students. Among many things, Dr. Roark taught me to use my mind as a muscle, which must be exercised daily. e lessons he imparted are invaluable to me. My prayers and thoughts are with his family.

Emily Farkas-Wyman 02
I received a B.A. in English from JCU and had Dr. Roark. I remember how energetic, lively, and passionate he was while teaching our class. I also remember how he challenged us in our thinking and writing ... memories of many dra s of papers for Dr. Roark! It was frustrating to write and rewrite those papers at the time as a college student, but as an adult in the real world now, I know that he was pushing his students to be the best thinkers, analyzers, and writers that they could be, in class and in the real world. I look back and value those rewrites and those challenges because it made me a well-rounded, well-spoken person. Dr. Roarks classes were experiences that laid a foundation for more than just learning how to analyze literature and write about it. anks for pushing me to be the best thinker and writer that I could be Dr. Roark. I de nitely value what I learned from you and your classes. You, your family, and friends are in my thoughts and prayers.

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Kimberly Hetzel 06, 11G

I was lucky enough to have Dr. Roark as both an undergraduate student and a graduate student. Dr. Roarks classes were always challenging, but they also always forced me to look at literature from a di erent perspective. In class, we would always dig deep into what we read, pulling apart speeches and poems by words and phrases, usually nding hidden meanings we would have never discovered on our own. He was also instrumental in helping me become a good writer. I remember the day he asked me if he could use my test essay as an example in future classes. I was very attered that he thought my writing was good enough to share with others. As an alumni, I also always wondered how many of my professors remembered me. I was one of those students who sat in class quietly, usually volunteering in discussions when I had to. So, I didnt expect to be remembered. But, a er I graduated, I got a letter about an English department event. Dr. Roark had crossed out my full name of Kimberly and hand wrote Kim. Perhaps that was a simple gesture, but it made me feel as if I wasnt forgotten and that just because you may be a quieter student, that doesnt mean your teachers dont notice or care. Dr. Roark was a great teacher.

Andrea Tracy 97
I will never forget when he came to class in a gorilla suit to demonstrate the idea that not everything is what it seemed to be in Shakespeares plays. He loved teaching and it showed. I was very sad to hear of his passing.

Lisa Factora-Borchers
Quiet No More: Remembering Chris Roark, A Free-Write on Grief is morning I went to the funeral of Chris Roark, a heart-centered, truth-seeking English professor from John Carroll University in Cleveland. My time working at St. Dominic a orded me the privilege to know and work with Chris in a number of projects. His name regularly rolled o my tongue when I spoke of some of the best folks around that I know in the area who bring the arts, literary scene, and talent to a whole new level on a local stage. Last week, he su ered a major heart attack and immediately died. He was 51 years old. His love story was one out of the classic texts, and he had three young children he adored. Chris was one of those people who I relied upon in an inexplicable way. I relied upon him like a barometer, to reassure myself that life at any age is worth living, and that good books, good love, good food, and good conversation are what lead you to what matters. Attending his funeral felt like a thief had come into our home and taken something of great worth. I wept. I grieved. I couldnt hold it together as I looked at the casket with a white cloth so delicately covering a harsh, inhumanly even shape. So much life lived, and so much yet to live. All nished. All sealed in a box. However fragmented this piece, this blog, this life will be, it is solely mine. I own it. And mine will not be quiet. Remembering you, Chris, and all that your life gave in seeds to feed so many around you. I will not forget you.

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Lucy Lytle 93
I just heard the news of Chris passing and am lled with such a sense of loss. He was, without question, the most gi ed and compelling teacher I ever met. When he was up for tenure, it was my privilege to write a letter of support. I admired Chris intelligence, wit, creativity, compassion, and charisma. e world was a brighter and far more interesting place because of his presence. I am blessed to have known and learned from him. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

James Martines 01
I had the pleasure of studying under Roark when I was at JCU from 1997-2001. I was a student in his Toni Morrison Seminar and he prepared a few of us to present papers at the International Toni Morrison Society Conference that year. Even though I was an undergraduate at the time and the conference was only open to graduate students, Roark said I was doing graduate work at JCU so I would qualify. He knew all I wanted in the world was to be an academic, and he wasnt afraid to bend the rules if it was right and good to do so. His devotion to us students was inspiring. Even when thrashing my papers with a red pen, insisting every that was absolutely unnecessary, the passion with which he did it was inspiring. He will be greatly missed.

Jessica Corey 11
When the time arrived for me to apply to Ph.D. programs, I had already taken classes in Milton and Shakespeare with Dr. Roark. As soon as he learned of my plans to apply, he o ered his assistance. Within a short while, I sent him my Statement of Purpose, to which he quickly responded with comments that le me rewriting my entire document. Given the demands of graduate school, I found myself tackling this task during Christmas break. at didnt seem to bother Dr. Roark. While most people remain hard to track down during their o cial time o from the University, he, once again, responded with thorough feedback. In continuing this process, his critiques le me discouraged. Yet, he remained dedicated to acknowledging my successful rhetorical moves. When I received noti cation of my acceptance, he was one of the rst people I noti ed. I still have his congratulatory email, which included an order to celebrate. At the time of his passing, I had just completed my rst year of a Ph.D. program, during which time I earned a 3.9 GPA, a new title as assistant writing program coordinator, and positions as a teaching fellow and research assistant. I have no doubt that the work I did in Dr. Roarks classes contributed to my success as a rst-year doctoral student. at he contributed to the fact that I had the opportunity for such success in the rst place, however, remains equally important. From his classes, I remember his laugh, his love of debate, his frequent stories about his children, and his dislike of the word ultimately in student papers. I say with con dence that his life meant a great deal to a great number of people.

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Brittany Conkle 02
I remember Dr. Roark as a physical presence in the classroom. When he was teaching, you paid attention! His obvious love and engagement with Shakespeares plays made us take interest in them, as well. I learned to love Shakespeare in his class, especially Othello and Antony and Cleopatra. I remember Dr. Roark had us choose and memorize a large chunk of a soliloquy from a Shakespeare play, and then we had to go to his o ce, recite it and discuss it with him. I was TERRIFIED! However, it was unique to be required to memorize something and essentially perform it. It really imprinted the words in my head and on my soul. Dr. Roark set the bar very high for his students, and we really had to work hard in his class. He let us know if we werent working at the highest level! As a shy student, that scared me at the time; yet, looking back on it, I am so thankful that I had a professor who cared enough to push his students and believe that we could always work harder and do a little better. My thoughts and prayers are with Dr. Roarks family.

Samantha Sheppard 11
When I heard the news about Dr. Roark passing, I was in my car and had to pull over. I could not believe it. I immediately started crying because I knew how incredible of a teacher he was, and not only that, but how incredible a person he was. He was without question, one of the best professors I had at John Carroll, and I would not have even taken his course in AfricanAmerican literature if I did not need another elective to graduate. I am very grateful that I did. He challenged his students to become better, never allowing us to settle with average work. He encouraged us to read between the lines with each story we studied and to understand how important the context of each story was. I will never forget Dr. Roark and my thoughts and prayers will stay with his family forever.

Jonathan Smith 08
I had Chris for a class and worked with him when e Actors from the London Stage came to John Carroll in 2006. I saw rsthand his love for Shakespeare and, wow, was he a fan! Yet this love (and Ill even go further and add zeal), I learned, wasnt contained to just Shakespeare. is was naturally Chris. at love and zeal made itself known every day he stood in front of us which made the di erence and made us want to succeed all the more. Please forward my expression of condolences to both his family and the English Department.

Maria Shine Stewart 85G Lecturer, Department of English

Dr. Roark was among the most welcoming of faculty members when I was rehired at JCU in 1993. At the time, I rerouted my career a er the birth of my son from full-time editing/writing back into teaching and was happy to be in a family-friendly environment while experiencing the formidable tasks of motherhood. When I would bring Andy, an infant and later toddler, to the work room to make copies at odd hours, Dr. Roark was o en on campus, working himself. He always took an interest in Andy, and eventually we had meaningful conversations (at the copy machine) about types of preschool, Montessori education, and so on. Dr. Roark clearly understood the power of a gentle and collegial conversation. Some adjunct faculty feel lonely or even invisible in their work; with kindness such as his, I did not. His extraordinary work to bring a Shakespeare troupe to campus reverberated out to even my students at CCC, who were thrilled to get tickets to JCU for the performance. is remarkable man will be deeply missed for his wisdom and warmth. I am extremely grateful for the chance to have known him.

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Bryan Sillaman 01
As an English minor at John Carroll, I took Professor Roarks Stuart Literature course primarily because it t well in my schedule and ful lled the necessary credit requirements to maintain my minor. I went in expecting to perhaps learn a bit about Shakespeare, Milton, and other poets and writers of the time, and le having participated in one of the most rewarding experiences of my college, and broader educational, career. I remember vividly the rst class: rather than take the somewhat lackadaisical approach of other professors and merely pass out the syllabus, Professor Roark jumped into teaching with vigor and passion. He required us to select a passage from Shakespeare and write a 500-word analytical essay, to be handed in the following week. A er working all week to prepare the essay, I (along with the rest of the class) was surprised when Professor Roark instructed us to take the essay we had just labored so hard on, cut out 50% of the useless verbiage, and hand in another, better, 500-word essay the following week. Professor Roarks fascination with words and language every word should mean something! has remained one of the many lasting lessons of his course. But it was the most intimidating assignment of the semester that was also the most rewarding. We were required to select, memorize, and recite before the entire class 25 lines of poetry. It is sadly tting that I chose Miltons Lycidas the pastoral elegy he wrote to memorialize the untimely passing of his friend Edward King. When my turn came, I nervously recited the sixth stanza: Alas! What boots it with incessant care To tend the homely, slighted shepherds trade, And strictly meditate the thankless Muse? Were it not better done, as others use, To sport with Amaryllis in the shade, Or with the tangles of Naeras hair?

Fame is the spur the clear spirit doth raise ( at last in rmity of noble mind)

To scorn delights and live laborious days; But the fair guerdon when we hope to nd, And think to burst out into sudden blaze, Comes the blind Fury with thabhorred shears, And slits the thin-spun life. But not the praise, Phoebus replied, and touchd my trembling ears; Fame is no plant that grows on mortal soil, Nor in the glistering foil Set o to thworld, nor in broad rumour lies, But lives and spreads alo by those pure eyes And perfect witness of all-judging Jove; As he pronounces lastly on each deed, Of so much fame in Heavn expect thy meed. I cannot remember much of import that I learned from the many business courses I took as part of my major, but to this day I nd myself reciting and practicing these lines of poetry, as if I could be called on at any moment again by Professor Roark to recite them. Professor Roark helped spark in me a love of poetry and an appreciation of language that continues to this day. He challenged us as young adults to be more intellectually curious, and to challenge ourselves. It was his course and his teachings, above all others, that I remember most from my days at John Carroll, and I consider myself immensely fortunate to have had the opportunity to learn from him. I am sure these words are small comfort given the enormity of his untimely passing, but I hope that his family understands how greatly Professor Roark touched the lives of his students and how his teachings and passions live on.

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Valerie Leonard 11
Chris was a dear friend and a great mentor. When I rst attended JCU, he was only 30 or so. He had a beard and a motorcycle, and in the winter, he drove an amusingly beat-up car. Our Renaissance Drama class was a tight-knit group and threw a dinner party at one students house. Chris showed up with a bottle of wine (most of which, I confess, I drank myself) and his huge personality....what a blast. Fast forward 20 years to my return to JCU. I knew immediately who would be my advisor. And he was, in so many ways. My last class with Chris was a Toni Morrison seminar. He shared a quote from a novel we did not study, Paradise, asserting that love is divine only and di cult always. I argued with this later, in an email to him, that love, as the troubadours said, is perfect kindness. Whichever de nition you choose, Chris was certainly a loving teacher, mentor, and person. I am so glad we were able to have this time with him.

Martin Dober 14
Dr. Roark was not only an expert on literature but an expert on life. He regularly pondered not only the questions and theories pertaining to his own academic eld but the great discussions on life, death, love, and friendship as well. He brought these questions to his students and encouraged them to journey with him in seeking answers. His death is made more bearable only because he was a man who thought regularly about what it means to live.

Joe Griesmer 09
My very rst English Lit class at JCU was Introduction to Shakespeare with Dr. Roark, and seven years and two degrees later, it is still one of the best classes I have ever taken. His unparalleled passion for his subject and commitment to helping students develop their writing made his class simultaneously the most demanding and most rewarding class I had taken to that point. e experience in his class and his encouragement convinced me to major in English, and his recommendation gave me the opportunity to work at the Writing Center, which was one of the best personal and professional development opportunities I had at John Carroll. My favorite Dr. Roark memory, beyond all of the above, came when he helped bring the Actors from the London Stage to JCU. Not only were the actors and their Shakespeare stagings fantastic, he was always excited by the number of non-departmental friends I would wrangle into attending. As a converted disciple of Shakespeare thanks to Dr. Roarks infectious enthusiasm, I was always happy to help. I was truly devastated to hear of his passing, and I will always recall his classes with great fondness.

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Maryclaire Moroney Associate Professor, Department of English Associate Dean, College of Arts & Sciences
Chris was a passionate teacher of close reading skills, the careful analysis of literary texts. His mantra to students might be summarized as attack the details and raise questions. In the process of teaching his students how to write a coherent essay about a soliloquy, however, he was also teaching them much more: he taught them to cultivate habits of mind and heart, to o er their full and undivided attention to someone elses words. I did want to include something about his training students to think skeptically and critically about the world around them, to take nothing for granted, but it seems to me crucial to point out that fundamentally spiritual stance (it seems to me to be that, so closely linked it is to major religious traditions) of full attentiveness-- such a di cult habit to cultivate, but absolutely foundational to everything else we want to accomplish in the world. is is a precious legacy.

Lindsey Bodjanac 10
Dr. Roark was a gem. He encouraged and pushed us past our self-constructed barriers of learning on a day-to-day basis, helping us to emerge as better students and smarter people. He truly cared about his students and strove to make boring subjects interesting, upbeat, and alive! He had us up on our feet and taught us sword- ghting techniques! It was amazing! His passion for learning was infectious and inspiring!

Tom Pace Associate Professor, Department of English

For me, Chris lived the Ignatian ideal of complete engagement in body, mind, and spirit, an ideal that many of us strive for at John Carroll but, like all ideals, we rarely live up to. Chris, among all of us, came the closest. e image of Chris that will remain with me is someone who always appeared much younger than his age, someone who always looked, to me at least, like a perpetual graduate student (and I mean that in the best of all meanings), like someone living intensely, wanting to learn more, do more, experience more, wanting to develop his mind more. Someone who, as Tennyson said of Ulysses, yearned To strive, to seek, to nd, and not to yield. Ive been returning the last day or so to the nal lines from Edgar in Chriss beloved King Lear: e weight of this sad time we must obey,

Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say. e oldest have borne most; we that are young Shall never see so much, nor live so long.

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Maria Soriano 10G Director of the Writing Center

As a teacher, Chris was both intimidating and encouraging. His Shakespeare class was a hard-knock welcome to graduate school, but he believed that every student could succeed. He had such incredible energy in class--and I think he could communicate with his students through email about revision ideas forever--but what I appreciated the most was indeed that energy. at contributes to a phrase that I think describes Chriss life philosophy: perpetual motion. He loved acting out scenes, staging sword ghts, and planning a variety of activities in class that prevented us from sitting motionless for 2 hours and 15 minutes. He was always walking somewhere around the department, and always on his way to class, or his kids baseball games, or home to his family, or somewhere on his bike. I appreciated his sense of doing and accomplishing, and I enjoyed working hard to earn his respect as a colleague.

Philip Metres Professor, Department of English

ere is too much to say about Chris Roark, even though I knew him the way we tend to know our colleagues around the o cethrough incidental contact, fugitive conversations, occasional sightings at the pool, reputation, etc. I always wished, but failed, to get him on the basketball court; by the time Id arrived at John Carroll, hed hung up his high tops and taken to cycling and swimming. Once, though, at a department summer party at his house, I got to see his high arcing le y shot in the driveway, as we goofed around with the kids, and knew it must have been unstoppable. We got to go to a couple Cavs games during the LeBron era, and it was a lot of fun to talk hoops with a fellow hoops nut. But what I will focus here on his Chris teaching. In 2008, Chris received the Lucrezia Culicchia Award for Teaching Excellence; I had the good fortune of nominating him for the award, which allowed me to visit his classroom, talk to him about teaching, and read his letters of support. I nominated him not only because I knew his reputation was that of a great teacher, but also because I felt mentored by him when I was on the tenure track, as these remarks will underscore. My letter is more or less as follows: From his classroom innovation and involvement in organizing visits to John Carroll by the Actors from the London Stage, to his work with the Composition Program in developing academic honesty policies related to plagiarism, Chris has been a model of teaching for his colleagues and students alike. Having read the glowing letters of support from colleagues, former and current students, I nd myself in awe of the energy, commitment, discipline and creativity with which Chris has conducted his teaching for nearly two decades at John Carroll. Ive known Chris Roark for seven years now, rst in his role as part of the tenure committee that annually evaluated my teaching and research, and then as Chair of the English Department. Before I discuss his pedagogical innovations (and, at the risk of repeating a my teaching observation letter), I would like to note that Chris was, without question, the most engaged of the department in observing and nurturing my own pedagogy, visiting my classes at least a half-dozen times over the years. I found his advice always perspicacious and stimulating to my own development as a teacher. (continued)

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Philip Metres (continued) First, though Chris is widely known as the most challenging of English professorsfor the demands he places upon students in terms of preparation and engagement with the texts of his courseshe is also one of the most popular. To succeed in a class taught by Chris is to pass the intellectual equivalent of boot camp, which becomes a point of pride among his repeat students. His adherents have a devotion to him because he gives such loving (though critical) attention to their writing and thinking; in other words, he takes their intellectual development seriously, and brings his whole self into that nurturing process. Chris pedagogy, to use John McBratneys words, involves serious intellectual play. Like Frost, who called poetry serious play, Chris classroom is one in which he is equally at home in conducting mock sword ghts (as a way of talking about performing Shakespeare and the issues of representing violence, for example), as well as setting up think-double debates, which require students to generate analyses that employ counter-evidence. But it is the work that he does (and that the students do) outside the classroom, in his extensive and regular o ce hour meetings and by way of Blackboard technologythat makes those classroom performances vital, engaged, and deeply probing, rather than spectacles of shallow learning. He regularly requires students to post dra s of their essays online, available for other students to read, and then makes extensive commentary on these essays, which are also available for other students to read. While he leaves the grades invisible to the community, his extensive and public commentary enables students to bene t from the other students work, and from the kinds of interventions that Chris is making into their composition process. As a former student noted, it was not uncommon for him to provide a full single-spaced page of commentary in response to one of my writing assignments. Such transparency into the process of intensive commentary is both di cult and labor-intensive, but it indicates the extent of Chris commitment to nurturing his students thinking and writing. In my observation of his class, I observed how Chris de ly moved from the microcosmic issues of textual analysis of the novel Beloved by Toni Morrison, to the wider questions that such analyses inducedquestions ranging from the literary to the cultural and historical. Roarks style of interpretation foregrounded the critical nature of generating questions, rather than answers, when we encounter a literary textskills that could be applied to any encounter of any text (as is clear from the range of letters of support). Roarks focus on articulating points of analysis as questions attempts to de ect from, as he put it, saying de nitive things about the text, because, as he notes, most critical writing is bombast. e exaggerated claims of literary criticism, he proposes, de ect from the complexity at the heart of any literary text. When talking about this approach in class, Roark invited students to apply such thinking to all their other classes, arguing that all professors are obsessed with a halfdozen questions that they keep returning toand that the process of becoming a scholar of literature involves clarifying ones own questions. In short, then, Roark demonstrated an exemplary ability to engage the students in a high level of collaborative analysis, modeling a way of reading that emerged from the students own readings, and proposing a method to navigate the thorny language of literary criticism. He clearly shares a good rapport with his students, who obviously respect him and nd him amusing. Second, in addition to his innovative and engaging courses, Chris has regularly organized trips to theater productions of Shakespeare plays that he is teaching. But with the inception of his chair tenure, Chris has brought the Actors from the London Stage (AFTLS) to John Carroll twice, not only to perform their plays, but also to visit classrooms and work with students to learn how to perform Shakespeare. Chris has taken on the enormous labor in bringing these troupes to John Carroll, housing and feeding them, getting classes to adopt the plays for their courses and to bring them to these classes, and organizing and selling tickets to the performances. Having the troupe come to my creative writing class, for example, enabled my students to get physically engaged in performance as an extension of the composition process. In other words, by reading

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Philip Metres (continued) Shakespeare sonnets and speeches and trying to embody them brought my students crucial insights into the ways in which all literary texts come to fruition by their performance. ey are not dead, mute pages, but rather scripts ready for embodiment. e AFTLS experiences have been nothing short of a titanic labor, but each of the performances has been a success. Recently, in 2007, he organized a presentation of JCU Night at the Tempest at the Great Lakes eater for the John Carroll community and prospective studentsan estimated 800 people attended. Finally, in addition to various talks and workshops (to Shakespeare students, for First Year Seminar, etc.), Chris also oversaw: 1) the transition to a revision of the English Departments literature track for the major; 2) the writing of the English Departments plagiarism policy, in light of the increasing numbers of student plagiaries and the ready availability of online sources; 3) a steady increase in our abilities to assess our work as a departmentfrom the use of an MFAT exam, to an ongoing narrative analysis of exit surveys. In short, Chris teaching and administrative labors on behalf of the Department have bene tted not only his own students, but also the Department culture, as well as the wider John Carroll community. One nal thought. I recalled that hed developed this strategy of requiring students to phrase their interpretations of a passage in the form of a question. In light of Chris untimely death, I can only say that Chris taught his students that the textand the text of our livesalways generates new and confounding questions. In some sense, we are constantly unknowing. Yet the ability to pose further questionsand not settle for easy answersde nes our hard-won humanity.

John McBratney Professor and Chair, Department of English

ere is so much to remember about Chris; its impossible to cram into a single, brief remembrance all that I recollect about a person who, in moments in our twenty-three years together as colleagues, felt like a brother. He was exemplary in many respectsas a teacher, a scholar, an athlete, a father, and a husband. But I want to remember him here as a man, simply as a human being. Shortly before his death, I visited him in his o ce to talk about a painful matter, a matter all the more painful because it was petty. When people are together in a community for years (as we are at John Carroll), they inevitably get on one anothers nerves. In this case, Chris had been the butt of a university colleagues insult, and I went to talk to him about it. I spoke the usual platitudes about how unfortunate such things arehow life is short, and how it shouldnt be wasted on such hurtful spats. I then asked him whether the colleague had apologized. Chris said no. I was prepared, at this point, to hear an outburst of bitterness, a recrimination to match the recrimination his colleague had directed at him. But Chris surprised me. He began to talk about his mother, who had died about a year before. He said that because of her death, he had been sad and perhaps overly harsh toward people as a way of keeping his grief at bay. Perhaps he had been too hard on this colleague, not just recently but over time. Indeed, he had been meaning to apologize to this colleague for some impolitic words he had said to him years ago. Chriss resolutionto make amends years a er in icting a woundhung before us in the air and seemed to still and cleanse our mood. I had known this man for years, and I had never seen him so gentle, re ective, and magnanimous. I said good-bye and le the o ce a bit dazed. Two weeks later, he su ered the rst of the heart attacks that took him from us. I will miss him sorely.

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Victor Szerpicki 94
I fondly remember my time with Dr. Roark as both an undergraduate and graduate student. He truly challenged his students, and was passionate about his work. I remember him taking me and a group of graduate students to Kent State in his station wagon last minute on a Saturday night. We all saw Romeo and Juliet together and had dinner at the Zephyr. It was a time I will never forget. Dr. Roark was a down-to-earth guy who reached his students both personally and through the artistry of what he taught. I will miss him and will always think of him whenever I read or view Shakespeare. Rest in peace.

Phyllis Pae 00G

My memories of Dr. Roark focus on his teaching Shakespeare to his students. His introductions for the Shakespeare performances on campus showed his enthusiasm for the works that he wanted to share with his students. He always moved through the halls with a great energy that came through in his conversations as well. In his capacity of chair of the department, he also recognized the adjunct faculty, which made me feel a part of the campus. Dr. Roark and his enthusiasm will be greatly missed.

Megan Lutz 12
I feel blessed to have known Dr. Roark and he has certainly le his mark on my heart forever. Dr. Roarks Shakespeare class was undoubtedly the hardest class I took while at John Carroll and also the most rewarding and bene cial. His passion for educating and for the texts he taught was so evident. I looked forward to going to his class every day. He not only provided me with a foundation of knowledge I will use as I teach Shakespeare to my own students but also taught me how to execute a proper sword ght. While he was an outstanding educator, I will remember Dr. Roark most fondly for who he was outside of class, a truly kind, caring, respectful man who would talk to me while we were in the natatorium working out and who always said hello around campus. I can only imagine how great of a husband and father he was. ank you for sharing him with us at John Carroll. ings will certainly not be the same without him and he will never be replaced.

Ben Kuhlman 98, 02G

Dr. Roark made the class engaging and fun, constantly making fascinating connections between Shakespeare and AfricanAmerican writers. He was a brutal critic of written work, but provided some of the most incisive and thoughtful feedback I have ever received. I also encountered Dr. Roark more than a few times as a grad student, and he was remarkably personable and fun to be around, as a professional and as a person. Dr. Roark was a role model for me, someone who could make brilliant connections across disparate texts, and manage to include his students in the conversation without patronizing and while making us think that we could do the same someday. He made scholarship cool, better than any other English professor I have ever met. ank you, Dr. Roark. e entire John Carroll community will miss you.

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Laurie Massa Director of Athletics

I am saddened by Chris death. I did not know him well, but we encountered each other at di erent times, most recently at Budget Committee meetings, or when he brought his kids to a game at JCU, or when Id see him on his bike in Cleveland Heights. I remember him as being very friendly, very insightful and thoughtful. is was demonstrated especially when he was invited by a student to our Student Athlete Academic Achievement Dinner. He was so happy to be invited by a student, and I meant to write him a note thanking him for coming. Before I had a chance to do that, I received an e-mail from him letting me know how much he enjoyed the evening and had a deeper appreciation of our athletes and their accomplishments a er being there. I thought it was very special for him to take the time to let me know that. May he rest in peace.

Tammy Layton 07
Chris helped me in so many ways when I was a student, through his encouragement, guidance, and inspiration. He knew I felt like an oddball due to my age, and went out of his way to make me feel at home at JCU during my rst year there. He also gave me some good advice when I began teaching as a grad assistant, advice that I continue to follow today while teaching at Tri-C. He told me that if I wanted the best chance of teaching genuinely motivated students, I should volunteer to teach the earliest morning classes. His theory was that anyone willing to sign up for an 7 a.m. or 8 a.m. class was probably pretty motivated to begin with -- plus, parking would also never be an issue. I wrote to him last year and told him I was still following his advice, and he got the biggest kick out of that -- he loved to know that his advice was appreciated (and actually worked). I also remember having some great discussions in his o ce concerning his family and his newly-found Catholic faith. He loved his wife and children so much, and it was evident how much pride and pleasure he felt in being a dad to his little ones. Im so terribly sad to hear of Chriss death. My prayers are with his soul, his wife, and his children.

Toty Martin
Chris and I became friends while at the State University of New York at Bu alo. He loved to play ball and frisbee, and swim, and run, during his free time. He was passionate about Shakespeare. He introduced me to the music of Bob Dylan, and to the Blues in Chicago. He listened patiently and was a loyal friend. He was not judgmental. He loved his sisters and mother and, a er nding Amy, his wife and their 3 children. I am sorry his children will miss getting to know him better. Like the song says, my universe will never be the same, Im glad you came, Im glad you came.

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Pietro Shakarian 12
As a recently graduated student of JCU, I would like to express my deepest condolences for the recent passing of Dr. Chris Roark. As you all know, Dr. Roark was an amazing and incredible individual who would have done anything to help his students both learn and succeed. He was an inspiring professor and an unyielding defender of civil rights and artistic expression. I never had Dr. Roark for class, but I did have the pleasure of knowing him as a man. He gave me crucial advice and direction on my creative writing and also, like me, held a deep love for jazz and blues. Ironically, he passed away almost exactly six months a er the passing of the absurdist Czech playwright and dissident Vclav Havel, another inspiring individual and Shakespeare-lover. To say that Dr. Roark will be missed is an understatement. May he rest in peace and may his memory live on. His wife and children are in my thoughts and prayers.

Kate Haffey Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of English

You asked for reminiscences of Chris, and over the past few days I have been thinking a lot about him. And while I dont have many speci c stories about him to share, what keeps popping into my head over and over is his laugh. Since his o ce was right next to mine, I would stop by o en, especially this past semester, to talk to him, and we would always end up laughing about something. He had such a distinct laugh. Id also hear him next door talking and laughing with students all the time. Im really going to miss that. e other thing I think about when I think about Chris is all the wonderful things I heard students say about him over the past two years. Over and over students would tell me in passing that he was one of the most challenging professors they had ever had and that they had learned so much from him.

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Phil Slanina 00
My very rst memory of Dr. Roark comes from my Introduction to Shakespeare class as a sophomore. I still remember the rst day of class as if it was yesterday. e professor was a tall, red-haired man who began the class by asking the students to share what they knew about Shakespeare. Answers were coming from everywhere and chalk was ying around as Dr. Roark wrote on the board with this intense energy. I was intimidated. I could not think of one thing that I knew about Shakespeare. I thought that I would never survive this class and I should change my major immediately. I did survive the class, barely. My rst paper came back with red all over it. a er Dr. Roark read it, he le me with ve words that he liked. e paper was supposed to be ten pages, I think

However, I enjoyed myself so much in the Shakespeare class that I went on to take two more courses with Dr. Roark and I asked him to be my advisor. Whenever I found myself back at JCU, I would wander into the OMalley Center and stop in to see Dr. Roark. He would always have time to talk. I still cant believe he remembered who I was. at has stuck with me to this day. I am now a high school English teacher and from time to time I nd myself thinking of Dr. Roark and how he is in uencing my lessons on Shakespeare. He was an amazing professor, one of the best I have ever had, and I will miss seeing him around the halls of the OMalley Center. Our revels now are ended. ese our actors,

As I foretold you, were all spirits and Are melted into air, into thin air: And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, e cloud-cappd towers, the gorgeous palaces, e solemn temples, the great globe itself, Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, Leave not a rack behind. We are such stu As dreams are made on, and our little life Is rounded with a sleep. e Tempest

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Robert S. Miola Gerard Manley Hopkins Professor of English and Lecturer in Classics Loyola University Maryland
Remembering Chris Roark A college freshman in my required comp course at Lafayette College, Chris Roark was one of the rst truly great students I have had the privilege to teach. He devoured the various readings. ( ree decades later, when introducing me, he named all the texts for that course.) Back then Chris wrote a penetrating, thoughtful paper on the most di cult text on the syllabus, Shakespeares Coriolanus, a play which I have rarely had the courage to try again in the classroom. At Lafayette he wrote an Honors thesis for me on e Fool in Shakespeare, which later blossomed into his doctoral dissertation, and an article on Lavatch in Alls Well. In college he was also one tough basketball player, starring on the African-American team (the only redhead on the roster), once unforgettably scoring 36 points against my faculty team (which boasted several college players) and excusing us from the championship round. When I had a ap over tenure, Chris wrote a letter to the paper calling out the president, who then invited him to his o ce for a discussion. Like all, the best students in the fullness of time Chris became a colleague. We met at conferences and always found time for a meal and some stories. While he was modest and self-e acing, I could see his energy and creativity in the classroom (who could not?) and I marveled at his poise and e ectiveness. As teachers who parcel out our lives in 16-week semesters we rarely get to see the long-term results of our labors. But each time I saw Chris I felt somehow that it all made sense, that books really mattered, that education worked a er all, and that the study of literature was a ne and noble thing to spend ones life on, one of the classic ministries of love, in Quentin Lauers ne phrase, because it seeks the good of the other qua. And of course Chris Roark was my friend. He helped me load a moving truck once. When my third child was born in 1982 he quipped: ree kids? at is when you move from a man-to-man to a zone defense. (I reminded him of that quip when he had a third.) We talked about our work and future plans. When I gave a Catholic Studies lecture at John Carroll in 2009, we shared a gourmet meal at his home, one of the kids ipping an onion from his plate in my direction. e last time I saw Chris, we met at the Shakespeare Conference in Boston a few months ago, both passing on the academic activities to attend a Good Friday service at a local church (we stood for several hours), and to share a modest, meatless, alcohol-free dinner. He talked about his wonderful wife and kids, told funny stories, and, engrossed in conversation, we both kept missing turns on the way back. e next morning at 6 a.m. we both, coincidentally, met in the gym. Student, colleague, and friend, Chris Roark will remain one of the bright lights and great blessings in my life.

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Liliana Scales 07, 12G Assistant Director of Enrollment

I recall my sophomore year registering for classes and I came across a title of a class that caught my eye: Toni Morrison. I decided to register because I thought it would be enjoyable not knowing that it was a writing intensive course taught by Dr. Roark. As a sophomore I was overwhelmed with the idea of being in a classroom with upperclassmen, but Dr. Roark treated us all like competent students. I already loved Toni Morrison, but diving into the literature made me fall in love with her writing all over again. Dr. Roark challenged us and wanted us to think deeper. Without a doubt, his class was one of my favorite classes while at JCU.

Halle Novotney 14
I studied English Literature with Dr. Roark at John Carroll for the past two years. Not only was he my professor and advisor, but he in uenced and inspired and encouraged me to choose the path Im on now. He saw something special in me, reached out, and my life will be forever changed. As a teacher, Dr. Roark was engaging, creative, and unpredictable. I took his AfricanAmerican Literature class and some days I would walk in and his skinny, pale frame would be standing at the computer with a silly grin. Next, the mouse would click and some hastily recorded, crackly YouTube version of a Public Enemy song would explode so loudly out of the speakers you could hear it all over OMalley. He would say, Okay folks, see if you can nd something in this song related to what weve been reading. O en, it seemed easier to compare Dr. Roark to Flavor Flav than to nd success in what he asked us to do. But, I cant think of a time when he didnt enthusiastically engage the class from the start, and as a result I never missed. I also took Intro to Shakespeare. It was my rst ever experience in a strictly literature class and being Shakespeare, I was extra nervous as to what the class would be like. e 12 page course guide emailed the day a er New Years didnt ease my mind any. Dr. Roark made Shakespeare understandable. I dont mean that he could translate Shakespeares vernacular into modern English. I mean that he had the exceptional ability to transform the language, events, and concepts into real-life examples. He o en used his own life, his children, or his relationship with his wife to help explain. ere were days in class when Dr. Roark made it seem as if Shakespeares characters were speaking to me directly. I was constantly writing in his class. I lled notebook a er notebook with his ideas. I feel that because of Dr. Roarks passion for the subject and remarkable teaching ability I have gained an understanding of Shakespeare that is unheard of in a college setting. In both classes, he taught us to question the text, the author, the critics. His teaching methods were unlike anything I had ever encountered. I was in awe that there could be more than one right answer, or even no answer, as there is in life. For Dr. Roarks death there is no answer. Once, we were examining the application of humor in literature and Dr. Roark asked someone to tell a joke. A er a few very long, drawn out minutes I raised my hand and said, What do you call a mysterious alligator in a vest? Dr. Roark thought and said, What? I answered, An in-vest-a-gator. He loved it. His laughter consumed the class and we were all laughing with him. He smiled the most when he spoke of his children, and he spoke of them o en. It was obvious that he lived to make (continued)

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Halle Novotney 14 (continued) their lives better. He was involved, loving, and kind. Ive walked past the gym countless times and saw Dr. Roark and his kids kicking around a soccer ball in their matching samba shoes. He lived a life that every man and boy should strive to lead. His humor and peculiarity, kindness, and passion combined to make Dr. Roark an extraordinary human being. Although I may have never told him, he was very special to me and to many others I know. I will always have fond memories of his classes and his bizarre comments. Ive never had a teacher who inspired and challenged me as Chris Roark did. ere is so much more about him I wish to say. Like everyone, I thought there was more time to get to know him, to tell him my endless collection of childish jokes, and to move my desk into a circle formation and eagerly await his next outrageous quip. Its impossible to gauge how much he will be missed and how much he has in uenced the world around him, especially the John Carroll community. I am incredibly sorry for this great loss. Dr. Roark was a human being that this world desperately needed.

Christopher Kempf 07
In almost a decade of higher education, Dr. Roark was one of the most in uential and inspiring professors Ive ever had. I took his course on Shakespeare in the fall semester of 2006, my senior year, but he continued, for years to come, to guide me in my development as a teacher and writer, acting as a mentor and friend when I, too, began to teach Shakespeare to my own class of undergraduates. I remember the fall of 2006 very well, and Dr. Roarks class in particular. My notebook from that class is swollen with notes on Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet and the like, but its also lled, as I look back over it now, with the kinds of comments that made Dr. Roark such an important and memorable professor, comments that suggest the extent to which his real subject, what he really taught us, was how to live justly and fully in the world around us. Tune in, Ive transcribed in the margins of my notebook, to the worlds ambiguity. And-- When you get a joke, something that seems random is suddenly connected and ordered. ese kinds of comments suggest Dr. Roarks ability to take 400-year old texts and make them vivid and fresh to a class of 21-year olds on the verge of graduation, to show us how Shakespeares world is our own world, and how we come to understand and articulate this world through language. Dr. Roark delighted in the playfulness of language, a trait both he and Shakespeare shared, and which deeply in uenced my development as a writer. He taught me to pay attention, in his words, to the way that sounds feel in the mouth. No statement, no insight, has had a more profound e ect on the way that I think about and work with language than this. Language, he taught me, is an embodied thing, formed with the lungs and the tongue and the teeth. His painstakingly cra ed scanning assignments, in which we were asked to mark instances of alliteration and assonance in various Shakespearean soliloquies, were designed not to teach us grammatical terminology, but to attune our ears to the pleasure of the English language, to the very physical joy of forming certain words and sounds, the joy that babies, he said, experience most directly when they babble incoherent sounds. at language could be looked at in this way had never occurred to me, and this sudden discovery, under Dr. Roarks tutelage, amazed me then and continues, every day, to bring me great joy.

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Emily Todd 10
Dr. Roark was truly an innovative, imaginative teacher. He pushed me to nd my passion for language and human selfexpression. rough my EN471 African-American Lit class, Dr. Roark opened my eyes to the powerful connection of music and writing as forms of self-healing. I cherish my nal senior paper because of my devotion to the coursework, but more so because of the avid support of Dr. Roark and his ability to internally motivate each of his students. Each student that was in his class understood a piece of the human condition through his or her lens. My deepest thoughts are with his family and friends who knew this beloved educator. ank you, Dr. Roark for impacting my life. When I went o to graduate school and found myself teaching a section of Shakespeare to college freshmen, it was these same assignments to which I turned for guidance, digging through my old notebook from Dr. Roarks class and, as well, emailing him for any handouts or advice he might have had. And he responded, in the true eagerness characteristic of all his work, with pages and pages of documents and notes accrued over decades of teaching Shakespeare. I can pay him perhaps no higher compliment than admitting that I have tried to conduct my own teaching a er the model he set out for me in the fall of 2006. e words are too o en bandied about without real meaning, but Dr. Roark quite literally -- and profoundly and for the better -- changed my life. It is rare, now, a er his death, that I read or write a felicitous or beautiful phrase without thinking of the way my mouth moves in saying the words, without thinking of the assonance and alliteration of the English language. Without thinking, that is, of Dr. Roark.

Gail Arnoff 97G Lecturer, Department of English

About two weeks a er Chriss rst heart attack, I saw him at Horseshoe Lake with Amy and the children. I could see that Chris was a bit frustrated because he couldnt be running around--I was so used to seeing him on his bike-- but it was lovely to see him looking healthy, as well as proud of his three beautiful children. I am happy to have that memory of Chris as we mourn his much-too-soon death.

Dan Grossman 07
My freshman year I had Dr. Roark for a British Literature course. I was a non-traditional student, returning to academia seven years a er high school. I didnt have a clue what I was doing. Any time I had ever come into contact with Shakespeare, it was like something in my head turned o . Dr. Roark turned it on. Permanently. My nal semester I took another Shakespeare course just because I could. I have since seen several productions of Shakespeares works and visited his home in England. ank you Dr. Roark. I am richer and wiser for having known you.

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Molly (Williams) McCourt 11

In Twel h Night, Feste closes the h act with these lines: But thats all one, our play is done, and well strive to please you every day. e words serve as a sort of reminder. You have just been in another world for the last ve acts, and now its time for you to go back into reality. I bring up this particular moment because I thought of Feste instantly when I awoke the morning a er hearing of Dr. Roarks passing. I was clinging to a hope that the shocking message I received was part of some dream or ction. I wanted Festes words to break through the darkness. ats all one, our play is done. Dr. Roark isnt really gone. is was all a theatrical performance. en I could return for a visit and see Dr. Roarks bike and toaster oven sitting in his o ce, his door decorated by his childrens drawings. Just then hed turn the corner, briskly, ask if I was still studying, nod approvingly, then remind me to keep at it. However, because Festes words cannot take away this dreaded reality, Im afraid that the Duke of Albanys from King Lear must su ce: e weight of this sad time we must obey; speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.

Meghan Sweeney 97
I waited to take Shakespeare until the spring of my senior year. Everyone knew how tough Dr. Roark was, and I wanted the weight of my other college English classes behind me. By then, I was ready, if intimidated by the sheer size of the syllabus. In that class, we scanned passages, listened to tapes, clocked our hours at lms and at live productions. Best of all, we acted out passages. I was in a group that did a southern adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing. I got to cross dress and pretend to smoke cigars (actions I justi ed in the nal paper I wrote.) For some reason, we played Natural Woman at the end of our performance as we took our bows. Dr. Roark also told me all about SUNY Bu alo, where I started my Ph.D. later that year. He talked, animatedly, about his pedagogical experiences, his o ce mates, and Bu alo grit. He remembered one wintry day, coming back from the bars (open, in this town, until 4 a.m.) and coming upon a horse statue on Richmond Avenue. e snow was falling fast and the horse was enormous (and anatomically correct). Some months later, I was walking through Bu alo with my new boyfriend (now my partner) and we came to Richmond circle. I thought, He was right about that horse. Every time I went down Richmond, I shot a glance at Chris Roarks horse. I kept in touch through the years, letting him know when I became a professor and when I earned tenure. He was always encouraging. e last email I received from him came a er I told him about the birth of my son, Henry, this past winter. He congratulated me and said, Write stu down when you can about the experience -- because you live so much in the present it goes fast. Our oldest is about to turn 8, and it seems like yesterday that he was a little ten pound guy falling asleep on my chest (hes about 80 pounds now). Hes right and I will and I am. ank you, Chris, for everything.

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David Humphries 93
When I heard the shocking news about Dr. Roark, I was preparing a lesson plan on Faulkner and thinking of the Shakespearean elements in one of the characters thoughts and speech. at I was thinking of Shakespeare is no doubt a direct result of the time I spent with Dr. Roark; that I am a professor of English at all is in large part a measure of his in uence as well. I rst met Dr. Roark in a Shakespeare course. e course was in the evening, which seemed to t with the plays that he had chosen, his funny yet brooding stories, and even the black high top sneakers he o en wore. Dr. Roark always, and I mean always, took the time to push me to be a better reader and writer, which really impressed me. I was impressed, too, with how he got students to not only understand the themes in Shakespeares plays but to inhabit the language as well. My admiration has only grown over the years. I got to know Dr. Roark better when he graciously agreed to be the advisor on my senior honors thesis. He was an insightful and generous reader, and though it would probably have surprised him to hear it, I found our regular meetings to be a source of comfort as well as inspiration. Our time together helped me move forward as a scholar and person. I knew Dr. Roark on the basketball court as well. He was well-known as a talented player who always played hard and competitively, and it was obvious from knowing him that his time on the court was an outlet and release. is was some consolation for me personally, since when I wasnt chasing Dr. Cima and Dr. Welki around the court, I was o en asked to try and stop Dr. Roarks unstoppable turnaround jump shot. I never did. At the end of my senior year, Dr. Roark invited me and my brother, Ken, who had Dr. Roark in a freshman writing course, to a cook out. It was my last day on campus and my thoughts were as jumbled as the boxes in my hatchback, but I couldnt think of a better send o from John Carroll than the one Dr. Roark gave me.

I had the opportunity to have dinner with Dr. Roark a while back, around the time I was nishing my dissertation. I cant help but wonder if I thanked him enough for all he had done for me, but one thing I am sure of is that he was happier than I had ever seen him. Im glad to have that memory, too.

Dylan Mulick 04
I came to JCU in 2000. I had little to no interest in, or aptitude for, literature, English or other. To be honest, I could not form a declarative sentence when my pen touched paper. is is no understatement. en I took a class with Dr. Roark. I loved it and it was horrible. Grueling. Di cult. Demanding. Enlightening. I rewrote my rst Short Fiction essay four times, eventually earning a C-, a proud C-. By the end of the semester, I asked Dr. Roark to be my advisor. is was very out of character for me. I did not go out of my way to grow or take the more di cult (perhaps rewarding) path. However, something in Dr. Roarks teaching literally turned me on. It made wanting to work hard and push myself fun and exciting. I graduated from JCU with a degree in English. I moved to New York and began writing for a Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper. I moved to Los Angeles and am a screenwriter/ director. People have taken what Ive written and made movies and TV out of it. And this is a direct result of Dr. Roark turning on the light bulb in my head. Dr. Roark and I had stayed in touch since I graduated. We spoke via e-mail earlier this month. e news of his passing is surprising and tragic. I am, and forever will be, extremely grateful to Dr. Roark. He helped shape me into the person I am today.

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Mary Patricia Pavicic 05

I wasnt an English major, but had him as an English teacher for one of my introductory English classes at JCU. He was tough, critical, and didnt conceal it. Most students dropped his class a er the rst week looking for an easy A elsewhere. Im so grateful that I stuck it out, because he was by far the best professor I had at JCU. He taught me how to articulate my thoughts through writing, and forced me to look at everything from a deeper perspective than my college-aged limited mind allowed me. He taught me the signi cance of focusing on feedback, rather than grades, which I didnt fully learn too appreciate until I myself became a teacher. I credit him with the success I had in writing in classes to follow, throughout graduate school, and into my professional career. Im very saddened because I think of him o en throughout my professional life as a teacher, and Ive wanted to write him a letter to let him know how much he impacted me. I never got around to doing that, but my prayers and thoughts go out to him and his family. He was a phenomenal guy.

Pete Honsberger 09
I took Dr. Roarks course on Milton as an undergrad, and while it was challenging, I was drawn to class each day by his passion and enthusiasm for Milton and for literature in general. Dr. Roark wore his high top shoes as he dove deep into Paradise Lost and other Milton poems. His enthusiasm rubbed o onto me, and soon I was critically reading these di cult poems and really trying to get below their surface. I still have parts of Paradise Lost memorized, thanks to him. Perhaps my favorite memories of Dr. Roark, however, are chatting with him in his o ce about literature or about basketball. He was a basketball fan, and we discussed JCU hoops and other bball news. He was a kind, friendly, intelligent guy.

Becky Weaver 95 , 97G

I feel greatly indebted to Dr. Roark for all the help and guidance he gave me so willingly. I had him for several courses as an undergrad which in uenced my decision to major in English, but he made the biggest impact on me as a graduate student. He was my M.A. essay advisor and let me tell you -- a er many revisions when he told me in an email that my essay was very good -- well, its still one of my most treasured compliments ever. It meant the world to me. In fact, I still have that email, printed out and saved with a copy of my essay. It means so much because not only was he a challenging professor, but you could always count on him to tell the truth. (Like when I applied for the TA program and I asked him to look at my application essay. Becky. is is bad, he said kindly, but honestly. He gave me some suggestions and in the end, I did receive a TA position.) So in many ways, he helped shape the course of my future. He changed so many lives for the better. He was so generous and authentic. He was nothing short of a magni cent man.

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Jennifer Sinclair 11
He was a dedicated teacher who shared his passion for African-American literature and Jazz music. He spoke o en of his children, and his daughter Rosalind. He was a really cool guy and will be greatly missed. My condolences to his wife and three children.

Kathleen Davis 01, 03G

Dr. Roark taught me Shakespeare and Toni Morrison. I remember, fondly, him writing on the board while listening to John Coltranes My Favorite ings before class started. When I taught my own classes during graduate school, Id study Dr. Roarks teaching style. His signature phrase was [Students Name] go ahead! when calling on a student. I thought that was so conversational and cool, so I would say the same with my own students. He was an all-around good professor. Dedicated, demanding, caring, and funny. Ill never forget his laugh, either.

Colleen Moran ONeil 92

Dr Roark was a very gi ed professor and I fondly remember learning to LOVE Shakespeare because of his patient and innovative teaching style. I see at least one Shakespeare production yearly and mentally thank him as I enjoy every bit of it. To his family and many friends, I o er my sincere condolences -- what a true loss.

Aileen Sexton Kopfinger 94

I was in Dr. Roarks rst honors freshman English class at JCU in the fall of 1990. He gave me my rst C and I had never received a paper back with so much red all over it -- I was in shock, but through his tutoring I learned and improved. I admired him so much that I took two more of his classes, at the same time! Even he told me later that it may not have been my best decision. During that semester, at anksgiving, my mother su ered a brain aneurysm which nearly killed her. Dr. Roark, along with many others, was more than accommodating to me to help gure out a way to salvage my semester and not lose the credits for the classes I was taking. He also served as my advisor and wrote one of my letters of recommendation to law school. I always enjoyed spending time with him and learning from him, even though he was one of my hardest professors. I am from Rochester so sometimes we would talk about the long drive to Upstate N.Y. (especially during the fall) and how he liked to ride his motorcycle without a helmet, which I told him was a big no-no. I know, especially at this time, there are no words that can give you solace, but I hope hearing how much he touched his students and what an impact he made will help give you some peace. He was a great professor and friend and he will be greatly missed. My deepest condolences to you during this di cult time.

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Chris Siders 99
My advisor and favorite instructor, Dr. Roark, was an eclectic teacher who let me see Shakespeare in a new way. I had him for three or four classes and enjoyed his laid back demeanor. However, he was extremely demanding and challenging in his lectures. I always felt I got my moneys worth when I had a Roark class. We all could tell he worked hard and in turn, everyone I knew worked hard for him. My college roommate called me Sunday to tell me the news. Surreal isnt even the word for what the news felt like. Melodrama aside, I am not only sad his wife and children will not be with him anymore, but also I am sad for the students of the next 15 years who will not have the privilege of having him for class.

Marcie (Rinka) Wessels 92

I was a student in Chriss Introduction to Shakespeare class his rst year at JCU. He was so enthusiastic and engaging. It was clear that he loved what he did. He was a demanding teacher and he pushed us to be critical thinkers and persuasive writers. Knowing my interest in Latin American literature, he even passed me an article about Karl Popper and Mario Vargas Llosa, a Peruvian author. I eventually went on to pursue a Ph.D. in Spanish and Portuguese and Chris was one of the JCU professors that inspired me to pursue further studies. My sincerest condolences to his wife, family, and colleagues. RIP Chris.

Jennifer Hecker 12
Dr. Roark was the most in uential professor I had the honor of learning under at JCU. His passion for Shakespeare and his excitement about what he was teaching made each class I took with him both challenging and well worth the e ort. He was always willing to sit and talk a problem through if I needed it and was quick to o er advice on how to make my writing better. My heart goes out to his family and I want to thank you for sharing him with us.

Nicholas Wilson 13
Dr. Roark was an exceptional professor and human being. I was enrolled in his Shakespeare class the spring semester of my sophomore year. I had read Shakespeare before; however, I did not expect to learn and understand the literature and deeper meaning of the text like I did. Dr. Roark made every class enjoyable because of his animated and enthusiastic approach. His desire to teach and learn every class permitted the students to do the same. Outside of the classroom, Dr. Roark would always greet me in passing by my rst name, which always impressed me. When I arrived back from studying abroad in London, England, this past semester, he and his family stopped into e Tavern Company on Lee Road where I serve. He instantly recognized me and asked how I was doing. We talked about my study abroad experience and how I visited a myriad of places relevant to Shakespeares life and discussed the rest of my travels. He coincidentally studied abroad in England during his college years. We talked about the magni cence of London and how we both enjoyed it so much. It was an experience I had with Dr. Roark that I will never forget. He was a loving father and husband, which I could see rst hand at the restaurant. His patience with his family was apparent when he taught as well. He never lost his temper in the classroom and was very empathetic to all his students. His personality, knowledge, wisdom, and kindness (some of his many great attributes) will be missed around John Carroll and the community. May he rest in peace.

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Katie Wilczewski 15
Im a lifeguard at the RecPlex pool and o en guarded Dr. and Mrs. Roark when they would come in to swim. Dr. R always came in with a smile and friendly hello and always worked hard at his swimming and it was nice to see such a friendly regular at the pool! It will be hard next year when Ill be guarding and expecting him to walk through the door, but never see him walk through. I also had the pleasure of teaching swim lessons to his daughter, Rosalind! While shes very young and did not have a particular a nity to the water while I worked with her, she loved watching her dad swim and o en said Look at Daddy! He swims so fast! I hope to see her and her brothers at the pool in the future! Dr. Roark, even though I only knew you for a brief period of time, it was a great pleasure to have met you. It was a pleasure to always see you and your family at the pool and I had some good conversations with you. You will be dearly missed by the lifeguard sta ! God bless you and keep you in Heaven!

Maria Meyer 05
Dear Amy, Owen, Vincent, and Rosalind, Your husband and father was one of the best (if not THE best) teachers I have ever had. He challenged me to use my mind in a way I had never practiced before, leading me to delve deeper into understanding concepts and simply learn better. He made me push myself harder and helped me grow. I can only imagine how he made each of you push yourselves to realize the potential that you may or may not have known you had deep within you. Know that he touched so many lives, made so many people better, and his lessons live within all of us. My heart and prayers go out to you, and I am so sorry for your loss. Please know there are many people thinking of you and supporting you through your time of grief.

Shannon Thomas-Ziemnik 02
I remember being a freshman at Carroll. It was 1998 and I was terri ed sitting in OMalley by myself. An upperclassman named Jesse decided to sit down next to me and proceeded to ask me questions about my major and what classes I would be taking. At the time I was a journalism major. Jesse was an English major and found it his duty to warn me and guide me through the various teachers in the English department. I remember being sort of annoyed and relieved at the same time when talking with him. I never met this guy before and he was o ering advice about my future teachers. e last teacher Jesse brought up was Roark. Not Chris Roark, not Dr. Roark, just Roark. If there ever was such a thing as a teacher groupie, Jesse was it for Roark. He told me that I had to take Shakespeare with Roark. He forewarned me that it would be probably one of the most di cult classes I would take, but also the most rewarding. I remember feeling slightly intrigued, but did not pursue his advice until the following year. I signed up for Roarks Shakespeare class feeling excited but nervous. e very rst class, Roark came in and handed the class a thick packet with all his demands and said Welcome to Shakespeare boot camp. I suspect (continued)

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Shannon

omas-Ziemnik 02 (continued)

half of you will drop within the next two weeks. My heart sank. What was I doing? A er the rst class though, it was obvious the passion that this man had for teaching and for wanting us to learn the material. He would laugh so much in class but also maintained a sense of seriousness about the material. It was in that rst class I took with Roark that I decided, yep, this is it, I want to be an English major and I want to teach just like Roark. Not many people can say they remember the exact moment they knew what they wanted to do in their lives, but I can and all of that is due to Roark. I continued to take three additional courses with Roark through my years at Carroll. He was never a disappointment. He challenged me, angered me, and made me grow as a person. I can honestly say without hesitation that Chris Roark has been the best professor I have ever encountered throughout my academic career. I nd myself teaching the way I was taught by him and that has to be his ultimate gi . e day I heard of Roarks passing, was my 10-year reunion at Carroll. I was somber when I entered OMalley but also happy that I was able to experience the greatness this man was and is. People I had not seen in 10 years came up to me to see if I was alright because they remembered how much I talked about him while I was at Carroll. I laughed because in the end, I became like Jesse, a Roark groupie, passing along how important the lessons I learned from Roark were and still are. My heart is heavy with sadness but also full because I got the chance to experience Roark and for that, I am humbled and honored.

Calin Radoi 10
I had Dr. Roark as a professor during my undergraduate studies. I was in his Shakespeare class, and will always remember, with unbridled fondness, the day my phone went o twice in his class, interrupting a class recitation with heavy metal. Dr. Roark was an amazing educator, a kind man, and probably one of the most important academic gures in my life. He taught me not only to appreciate Shakespeare theoretically, but instilled a true and personal love for the subject matter he taught. I also learned from him, brevity, concise writing, and how to reduce an eight page paper to four. I cannot imagine the loss your family has su ered, but I hope some small consolation may come from the fact that, even among students he was not personally close to, Dr. Roarks inspirational dedication to his profession will forever be remembered. My deepest, most sincere condolences.

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Moria Nagy 02
I had Dr Roark for rst year seminar. He was so charismatic and energetic. In his class I truly learned to write. I found freedom to use my voice and write my arguments in a clear and very persuasive way. He taught me how to write an intellectual argument and support it with evidence. In life I have learned that to have this kind of skill is invaluable. I would not be where I am without that initial guidance. I am truly sorry to hear of his passing. I will always remember him.

Erin Gisel 95
I was privileged to have Dr. Roark for class in my sophomore year at John Carroll. He was a fantastic teacher. Not only one of my very favorite teachers at JCU, but ever. I still remember reading e Kugelmass Episode for his class. I looked forward to every class and le energized and interested. He is a gi ed teacher. My heart goes out to Amy and their children. I feel lucky to have met Amy and to reconnect with Dr. Roark years a er college. is world is not as bright, now that he is not with us.

Jeannie Kidera 12
e courses I took with Dr. Roark were the book ends to my MA ( rst the summer of 2008 and nally the fall of 2011) and were the most demanding and challenging courses I have ever taken -- and I am so much better for that. Every day in class I felt I was learning just as much about teaching as I was about Renaissance Literature, and my own students have reaped the bene ts of his teaching methods as a result. His kindness, earnestness, and utter dedication to his teaching, subject, and students will never be forgotten. He truly was a role model and inspiration not only to students but to fellow and aspiring teachers as well. He went above and beyond -- even recommending natural teething solutions to me when he heard me say my nephew was teething! He was thoughtful enough to extend o ers for play tickets to me and my students at various times as well, and I always appreciated every time he thought to reach out. He spoke of his wife and children in class o en, and when he did the immense love and wonder he felt just radiated! I am truly and deeply sorry that the university and his family and friends have lost such an outstanding human being, but I will remember him fondly every time I have my students do an in class debate -- an activity I stole from him!

Shea Keats 06
I had Dr. Roark for my Honors Intro to British Lit my freshman year of college. His enthusiasm and knowledge inspired me to major in English and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know him during his tenure as chair of the department. Ten years later Im working toward an MA and PhD in English and if someday I can have even half the passion and in uence he had about his work and for his students, I will consider my career a success. ank you for your inspiration, Dr. Roark! Much love and many prayers to your family and friends.

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Lisa Durst 93
What a smart man! I never thought someone could spend so much time with just words ... but then I began to adore Shakespeare as well and took as many classes as I could with Dr. Roark and about Shakespeare. I feel like I can even remember his joy when I nally got it with a dissection of a section of a play! I was at JCU the rst year he began, which means he was very di erent from many of the other teachers. I ran into him a few times years later at the Cleveland Music School Settlement -- our children were in class together -- and it brought back that ood of memories reading and rereading, writing and rewriting ... everything I loved about majoring in English and sorely miss in my adult world. RIP Dr. Roark. Youll be missed.

Debby Rosenthal Associate Professor, Department of English

Dear Owen, Vincent, and Rosalind, You had an amazing, amazing dad. I knew him for 14 years as my colleague, my department chair, and as a friend. I rst met your dad when I was interviewing for my job at JCU. He was so kind and welcoming. For my teaching demo, I had to step into his class on African American literature and teach one of his favorite stories, Sonnys Blues by James Baldwin. Your dad was so nice and shared with me a bit about the class and some major themes he was trying to address in the story and the course. When your dad rst bought the house you are living in, he gave me a tour. He was so proud of the house and of his vision for it: he wanted to get married and raise a family in the house. He could imagine children playing and growing up there. You are the dream he had wanted for so long. Since your dad wanted to get married, I introduced him to three of my friends. ey were all very nice women and he took them out on dates, but they werent what he was looking for. When he met your mom, he knew he struck gold and that he wanted to marry her and bring you into the world with her. You are so lucky that your parents were such a good match and that they love you so much. Your dad was always so great with kids and so I knew how much he wanted you. Before you were born, your dad used to enjoy playing with my little boy, who was very interested in swords. When my boy would come to visit the English department, your dad would chase him around the OMalley Center with swords. ey would duel and your dad would let my son defeat him. It was so much fun. When my little boy, who is now 17, no longer needed his swords, he gave them to your dad to use in class. Maybe youve seen the light sabers, cutlasses, daggers, and swords from my son. As much as your dad loved young children, he also really enjoyed college-aged students. Im sure many of your dads colleagues and students have written about what a great teacher he was and how much they learned from him. Its all true. If I listen closely, I can still hear your dads laugh echoing down the department hallway from the photocopy room to my o ce. He had a wonderful, hearty laugh that made me happy. Your dad was so wonderful. A really good guy. I hope you treasure these various memories in this book and that you hold tight to them. We will all miss your dad very much.

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Bill Ryan Retired, History/Humanities Institute

I somehow missed the news and was shocked to learn belatedly of Chris Roarks passing. Our dealings werent frequent, but they were always pleasant and productive as were our bicycle riding greetings a good, friendly, giving colleague. Our prayers and thoughts are with his family.

Tom Roche and Bo Smith

As the Gerard Manley Hopkins Visiting Professors in the fall of 2011, we were touched and honored when Chris Roark invited us to co-teach a Shakespeare class with him. It was a course he had taught with great distinction before and he certainly did not need two visiting professors taking up time and space, but it is a perfect example of his personal and professional generosity that he reached out to and welcomed us. It was a wonderful experience for us as we had the privilege and the gi of watching Chris in action: his vast, wide-ranging intellect blending with his charisma and his enthusiasm to anchor a course that made Shakespeares plays blaze with immediacy, accessibility, challenge, inspiration, and embellishing humanity. Chris not only put his stamp on the class, he put his stamp and penetrating insight into the heart and mind of each and every student and on us! As fantastic as the class was in its intellectual sheen, it was particularly distinguished for Tom and me by the way Chris talked of his family. At every mention of Amy or Owen or Rosalind or Vincent, Chriss face was transformed by a joy and a light that shown as though he had a golden ame burning inside. He absolutely loved telling the class a little story or anecdote about something funny and charming that one of you had said or done, and it was obvious to everyone that you were the loves and lights of his life. To be in a room with Chris while he spoke of you made each of us feel joy, love, blessings and embracing generosity because that is what you gave him and he communicated that directly, passionately, emotionally and soaringly. He adored and cherished each of you beyond the power of words to express or de ne, and we want you to keep in your hearts for your entire lives the knowledge of how strikingly and vividly Chris illuminated everyone around him because of the light, laughter, joy and golden love you gave him! We will honor, remember and love Chris always.

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Peter Kvidera Associate Professor, Department of English Associate Dean, College of Arts & Sciences
Dear Owen, Vincent, and Rosalind, Your dad and I taught together in the English Department at John Carroll University. He had already been teaching at JCU for several years before I arrived in Cleveland, and so he helped me a great deal as I was getting settled in my new job. Your dad was, in fact, a real mentor to me. Perhaps because our o ces were near each other (and because we both o en worked late hours), I spent a lot of time talking with him about teaching, research, the JCU community, biking, sports, theater in Cleveland, and many, many other things. His door was always open, and he went out of his way to make me feel welcomed. Laterwhen he was chair of the English Departmenthe helped me advance in my career by providing both advice and the resources necessary so I (and my other un-tenured colleagues) could eventually receive tenure. Your dad was a real leader (for our department and on other university committees) who cared about fairness and equality and was not afraid to stand up for what he believed. I know I am a better teacher and a better citizen of the university because of him. But many of my memories of your dad also involve activities away from the JCU campus. I remember bicycling with him through Rockefeller Park to Lake Erie, or through the Chagrin River valley. I remember several instances when I helped your dad cut wood (from trees that fell down in the neighborhood) so that you could have warm res in your replace during the winters. When I think of your dad I also think about house projects. He helped me so much when I bought my house in Cleveland Heights, mostly assuring me that I hadnt made a huge mistake in purchasing a house. I remember spending a weekend with your dad and your grandfather demolishing a room so that they could construct a new bathroom for your family. Your dad also helped with construction and reconstruction work on the houses of several other JCU friends. I recall one friend (Steve Hayward) who observed that your dad would o en come over to his house, ask what he was doing, and then explain the best way to tackle the project. Usually your dad took over and did the project himself! He was that helpful to me and so many other people. One of my fondest memories of your dad involves your mom too. is was the situation: I happened to run into them at a Saturday evening mass at St. Dominicsit was Valentines Day. I recall feeling rather glum and lonely (this was before I got married), and your dad and mom, understanding how I felt, invited me over to their house (on Valentines Day!). I took them up on their o er, thus keeping them from having the evening to themselves. But they did not seem to mind. at evening, they invited me simply to sit in front of the replace and talkit was such a kind gesture and a wonderful experience for me. With all of these memories, I come to one overall conclusion: your dad always thought of others, gave himself and his time to others, and would never stop to think about making sacri ces for others. He was a remarkable person, and I will miss him greatly.

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Katie Milburn 00
When I graduated back in May of 2000, Dr. Roark paid me a tremendous complement. Written in the rst page of my graduation gi , Great Books, he told me that his ideal class would be made of 15-20 of me. He went on to say how thoughtful, hard-working, and intelligent I was, but really, I think he gave me entirely too much credit, since my achievements in his classes we so critically tied to his talent as an educator and the passion he put into their enrichment. I really dont have a lot of clear memories from any of my classes at John Carroll, but Chriss classes are the exception as I remember so many of them in vivid detail. He was far and away the most thoughtful, passionate, and intelligent professor Ive studied under in both my undergrad and post-grad course work, and none but Chris have le such a lasting mark on my memories or my skills as a writer and a thinker. My rst class with Chris was African-American Literature, and I remember thinking he disliked me because his praise was so di cult to earn. His feedback on my writing was harsh and there were o en more criticisms than any other feedback. e style of writing that usually earned me easy As with other professors was barely a B with Dr. Roark. I actually had to adopt a completely di erent style of writing when I was writing a Roark paper, which took me three times as long as papers for any other professor, not to mention the frustration and anxiety associated with it being good enough to satisfy his expectations. But by the time I got to the conclusion of my rst class, I had come to realize that all the pushing, all the criticism had actually made me a more concise, articulate writer, not to mention a more thoughtful, analytical thinker. Chris forced me to cut through the owery, overly verbose and unnecessary u so I could strengthen my arguments and analysis. Today, I feel one of my strongest assets as a businesswoman, as a wife, as a sister, a friend, is my ability to communicate with purpose and think critically, and Chris was far and away the most in uential person in helping me develop in this way. He saw the potential I never recognized in myself and would not be satis ed until I gave my absolute best. And there was no greater academic achievement than earning his approval, however painful the process had been. I am a better person for having known Chris and regret tremendously that I cant tell him how much he in uenced who I have become and how grateful I am for the mark he le on my life. Ill always remember the Blues he played every day before class began in African-American Lit; his arrival to Shakespeare in a gorilla suit; and with a reason I can still articulate today, permission to drink beer in a class skit because it was relevant to our performance; introductions into some of the most powerful, touching literature Ive ever read in my life and being guided to understand it in profound ways. My heart aches for the loss this has caused your family. I feel privileged to have known your husband, Amy, and your father Owen, Vincent and Rosalind, although it feels sorely inadequate, I hope this brief description of how Chris touched my life helps to augment your memories of what a remarkable person he was.

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Rich Rosfelder 04
ree Memories of Chris Roark 1. I was a sophomore when I took my rst course with Chris. I walked into the classroom one morning and heard Billy Braggs version of e World Turned Upside Down playing rather loudly. Were going to get along well, I thought. 2. ree years later, when I was struggling to determine how to take the next step in my life, I found myself sitting in Chris o ce. He mentioned that hed been revisiting Moby Dick. Listen to this, he said: ere is no steady unretracing progress in this life; we do not advance through gradations, and at the last one pause: though infancys unconscious spell, boyhoods thoughtless faith, adolescences doubt (the common doom), then skepticism, then disbelief, resting at last in manhoods pondering repose of If. But once gone through, we trace the round again; and are infants, boys, and men, and Ifs eternally. (Chapter 114) 3. A year or so before that, my band was playing at the incomparable Barking Spider Tavern. Chris and a couple of other great English professors sat down just before we launched into e World Turned Upside Down. Im not sure if it made Chris day, but it de nitely made mine.

Jeanne Colleran 76 Professor of English Dean, College of Arts & Sciences

Dear Amy, Owen, Vincent, and Rosalind, I worked with your dad every since the day he started at John Carrollmore years than I can count. He was a very, very good teacher. Our o ces were next to each other, and he always had a line of students waiting to see him. Your dad taught students how to writewhich meant he taught them to think. It also means he gave every one of his students a gi that would last an entire lifetime. I cant think of a better way to live a good and meaningful life. Your dad was very proud of you. He talked about you with so much love and it was clear that you were the center of his universe, the deep core of his heart. We miss your dad very much at John Carroll. But we also feel that he is still with us. One poet says that when someone dies, their life rami es and is forever. at means that like a sturdy tree that keeps getting bigger and stronger, a persons love gets stronger and deeper no matter what. I know that you will always feel his love. ank you for sharing your dad with us at John Carroll. We loved him, too.

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Kate (Jones) Mozingo 99

Dr. Roark was the most inspiring English teacher I ever knewand I am an English teacher so I know quite a few. He was not only passionate about the topic (many are), but he challenged us to think in new ways and make connections. He never laughed when we stepped out on a limb, but instead encouraged us to explore the idea we had further. I always remember him saying, Push that idea further. Where can you go with that? e way he showed us how very di erent texts could have such interesting commonalities changed the way we thought. Not just about literature, but about life. To me, Dr. Roark embodied a Jesuit education. I am so thankful I got to know him and experience being his student. I will be praying for all those who will miss him greatly.

en imitate the action of the tiger; Sti en the sinews, summon up the blood, Disguise fair nature with hard-favourd rage; en lend the eye a terrible aspect; Let pry through the portage of the head Like the brass cannon; let the brow oerwhelm it As fearfully as doth a galled rock Oerhang and jutty his confounded base, Swilld with the wild and wasteful ocean. Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide, Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit

Tony Colan 93
All I can say is how deeply struck I was by the news. Dr. Roark was the best teacher I had at John Carroll. He was always pushing students to do more, to phrase something better. I used to play basketball with him at lunch with some professors, and I really will never forget him. To this day, I still remember he made me memorize the following from Henry V: Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; Or close the wall up with our English dead. In peace theres nothing so becomes a man As modest stillness and humility: But when the blast of war blows in our ears,

To his full height. On, on, you noblest English. Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof! Still my favorite Shakespeare words to this day. I feel your presence Chris. Your family should know you made a huge di erence in students lives.

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Julie (McDonough) Spilker 03

I was very saddened to learn of Dr. Roarks sudden passing in the JCU magazine. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and everyone elses lives that he touched. He was my hands-down favorite professor at JCU. A 2003 graduate of the University, I rst had Dr. Roark for First Year Seminar, as a freshman. I remember that rst day thinking, Oh my gosh, this class is going to be so tough. Tough as his expectations were, you wanted to do well for him. His absolute passion for life, his work as a prof, literature, students, and the university all came through in those classes. You knew he wanted the best for you, and that he expected you to give him your best. A friend of mine from high school, who was a freshman at another university in Ohio, was thinking about transferring to JCU, and I had her attend his class. She was so moved by his presentation, she applied to transfer to JCU the next week. I wish I would have told him that! She is one of my best friends and I partially owe it to him! I took a couple more classes with him and subsequently developed a passion for Shakespearean and African-American Literature. He took our classes on all sorts of fun trips. He took us to dinner at the Lemon Grass Restaurant and then to see a performance of Titus Andronicus at the Cedar Lee eater. We saw another play at CWRU. We all thought he was one super-cool prof. He didnt make us feel like the kids we werewe felt like he took us seriously, like we were intellectual peers (although we were clearly not!). His lectures were challenging in a good way and his assessments were innovative. I remember acting out a scene from Hamlet in classI loved it. I remember when I nally got an A on one of my papers in his Intro to Shakespeare class. I was on a high for weeks (I think I still am)! He spent a lot of time helping me improve my analytical writing skills and it had nally paid o . When he handed that paper back to me, he had a very serious look on his face and I thought, Oh gosh, this cant be good. When I read his comments, they said something to the e ect of, One of the best and novel accounts of this work that Ive ever read. Good work. Highest score in the class. My mouth hit the oor. I felt like a million bucks! is was right around the time when my calculus prof (who shall remain nameless) said to me a er one of several of our tutoring sessions, You said you like English? Well, you should probably stick to that because you are not good in math. Fine with me! I was majoring in marketing and decided I wanted to minor in English, but my business courses got too intense and I had to drop the minor. I remember meeting with him to let him know I was going to be dropping out of his class and that I was so sad about it, but just couldnt dedicate enough time to really do well in his class. He said he was disappointed and that I would have been a good English major, let alone minor, because I loved literature so much, but understood and wished me well. Once I was in the business world, I o en thought about how happy I was doing the work in his and other English classes. It never felt like work to me because I loved it. Ironically enough, business wasnt making me all that happy. So, I went back to school to be a teachera special ed and reading teacher! Now I teach for a Cleveland-area school district and I love it. I cant help thinking he would be proud of me for doing what I love and am good at, because now, life is great, and work really isnt work. Having had the privilege to observe him teaching at JCU, I can clearly see his job was never work for him either. I will miss him and his motivational words and actions dearly, and I will continue to allow those memories of him during my time at JCU to in uence my actions with my students and my life.

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Megan Gilson 97
I had Dr. Roark for Shakespeare my sophomore year at Carroll. I have so many great memories of that class...recording myself reciting iambic pentameter, memorizing the soliloquys, staging productions in the classroom. Dr. Roark truly gave me not only a love of Shakespeare, but a desire to dissect and digest any project with interest and passion. I will never forget the way he encouraged our class to love learning. My sincere sympathy for his family.

Katie Kickel 98G

Dear Amy, Vincent, Owen, and Rosalind, is is what I remember about Chris Roark: He had a big smile and an easy laugh. He wore hiking boots with bright red laces in the fall and winter. He lumbered around the department, and, when he talked to you in his o ce, sitting at his desk, he leaned back in a squeaky chair, until you thought he was going to topple over. He had a strawberry-blond beard of varying style, and he wore rimmed glasses that always seemed slightly askew when he was speaking or thinking intently. He rode bicycles and motorcycles. He loved his wife, his children, his students, literature, the outdoors, athletics, and Shakespeare. I took two graduate seminars with him: Shakespeare and Renaissance Drama. When I met him, I was a rst-year M.A. student. He was a newly minted associate professor. He required that his students, even his graduate students, recite a soliloquy. I was assigned Edward IIs speech in Act II of Marlowes play, and I delivered it in a shaky voice in the rst graduate class that I ever took. I remember it still. In time, Chris encouraged me to pursue doctoral work. He took me to my rst academic conference e Shakespeare Association of Americaand he secured me a slot on a panel with Frank Whigham, a well-respected scholar. I delivered an earnest analysis of Websters Duchess of Mal , and Chris helped me re ne its argument. Chris also proofread my seminar papers (they were plagued by comma splices, but he corrected them gently) and my Ph.D. applications, and he chuckled good-naturedly when I used peaked, when I meant piqued, in the very rst sentence of my fellowship essay. Years later, he laughed again, when I related that while I was on an important two-day campus interview, I insisted that I had earned a bachelorette degree, when I meant bachelor, of course. Chris didnt take himself too seriously, even though he was brilliant and passionate, and I will always admire him for that. He encouraged me to do the same. However, the most important thing that he taught me was something that he modeled rather than preached, and it had to do with the vocation of teaching, which was the work of his life. He was in academia for all the right reasons, for the only really: He loved literature. at was his criteria for admission to the profession, so he let me in, and he mentored me, despite my failings. He did this again and again, for student a er student. It was his hallmark. He was the great believer. He thought every student could become what he/she aspired to be with persistence and hard work. He was right. How else could any true teacher feel? Later, when I was a Ph.D. student, one evening I went with him to the symphony. He had free tickets, and we would get together every so o en to catch up. I remember sitting in the dimly lit concert hall, waiting for the music to begin, talking in hushed voices about his new project: a study of African-American writers and Shakespeare. He admired John Edgar Wideman (continued)

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Katie Kickel 98G (continued) especially. And, he had recently discovered books-on-tape. ey were ingenious and surprisingly helpful in combating a bout of insomnia that he was grappling with. He was listening to Daniel Defoes Journal of the Plague Year. He said that hearing the curious diurnal narrative before he dri ed o to sleep was soothing. He was experiencing the text anew, and he was rediscovering the eighteenth century. He made copies of it for me on six cassette tapes. I still have them. Eventually, I became an eighteenth-century scholar. Later, when I nished my monograph, there was, not coincidentally, a chapter on Defoe. One day, I called to see what was new a er not hearing from him in a while. I was in the midst of a tedious dissertation project. It was so lonely. e camaraderie of graduate school had given way to the solitariness of scholarly writing. He cheered me up, and he told me that he was dating someone really special. I had to meet her. He insisted that I come over for dinner. She was a chef. She cooked delicious meals, and she was beautiful, charming, and lovely. Too beautiful for him, he thought. at evening, I went over for dinner, and there was Amy, smiling shyly. She had prepared chicken paprikash, and I looked from him to her, and then back again across the table, and I thought, He is so gone. And he was. He was grinning from ear to ear. Finally, he had found the love of his life. He basked. She glowed. Now, he belonged to someone, and she belonged to him. eir lives would never be the same. Next came the beginning of their family: A busy baby boy, a short year later. By that time, I was only talking to Chris occasionally. We were swept up in the currents of our divergent lives. My M.A. program was long behind me, and I was living in Idaho. Chris had become a husband, a family man, and, most important of all, a doting dad. From my vantage, it appeared that any of his rough edges had been smoothed by the bliss of his new existence. I moved away to start my career, but every time that I reported in, usually around the holidays via e-mail, Chris was happier, and then happier still. In short, he was the happiest that I had ever seen him. His family was his entire world. In the end, what I will remember about Chris Roark is that he was a family man, a good friend, a patient listener, an ardent learner, and an enthusiastic teacher. What is there to say, really, except that JCU and the world that he inhabited is sadder for the loss of him but richer to have known him.

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Index of Contributors Arnoff, Gail Bardasz, Suzanne Bodjanac, Lindsey Capps, Jesse Colan, Tony Colleran, Jeanne Conkle, Brittany Corey, Jessica Davis, Kathleen Dober, Martin Durst, Lisa Factora-Borchers, Lisa Farkas-Wyman, Emily Fligge, Alyssa Gilson, Megan Gisel, Erin Griesmer, Joe Grossman, Dan Haffey, Kate Hatgas, Joe Hecker, Jennifer Henderson, Maggie Hetzel, Kimberly Homar, Katie Honsberger, Pete Humphries, David Keats, Shea Kempf, Christopher Kick, Kate 35 5 21 4 54 53 17 16 40 19 47 14 13 6 57 45 19 35 29 8 42 13 14 12 39 38 45 34 13 Kickel, Katie Kidera, Jeannie Kuhlman, Ben Kvidera, Peter Lauritzen, Paul Layton, Tammy Leonard, Valerie Lutz, Megan Lytle, Lucy Martin, Toty Martines, James Massa, Laurie McBratney, John McCourt, Molly Metres, Philip Meyer, Maria Milburn, Katie Miola, Robert Moran ONeil, Colleen Moroney, Maryclaire Mozingo, Kate Mulick, Dylan Murray, Michael Nagy, Moria Novotney, Halle Orlando, Monica Pace, Tom Pae, Phyllis Pavicic, Mary Patricia Perry, Cierra Pilumeli, Tanya 57-58 45 27 50 6 28 19 27 16 28 16 28 1, 25 37 22-25 43 51 32 40 21 54 38 11-12 45 33-34 9 21 27 39 4 8 Weaver, Becky Wessels, Marcie Wilczewski, Katie Wilson, Nicholas 39 42 43 42 Radoi, Calin Ramsey, Brittany Reiser, Michael Roche, Tom Rosenthal, Debby Rosfelder, Rich Ryan, Bill Scales, Liliana Sexton Kopnger, Aileen Shakarian, Pietro Shanahan, Patrick Sheppard, Samantha Shine Stewart, Maria Siders, Chris Sillaman, Bryan Sinclair, Jennifer Slanina, Phil Smith, Bo Smith, Jonathan Soriano, Maria Spilker, Julie Stuart, Christopher Sweeney, Meghan Szerpicki, Victor Thomas-Ziemnik, Shannon Todd, Emily Tracy, Andrea 44 8 9 48 47 53 48 33 40 29 13 17 17 42 18 40 30 48 17 22 56 5 37 27 43-44 35 14