Renowned literary critic, SUNY Distinguished Professor Emeritus and Samuel L. Clemens Professor of English Leslie Fiedler died Wednesday afternoon in his Buffalo home.
Fiedler, 85, battled Parkinson's Disease for the last several years.
Often referred to as the "bad-boy of American letters," Fiedler served the last 39 years at UB and was the author of more than two dozen books, including "Love and Death in the American Novel," often considered his major work.
"He really has remarkable, great stature, with no exaggeration," said Diane Christian, distinguished professor of English. "He's probably the foremost critic of American letters in the last century."
Fiedler was the recipient of dozens of awards, including the Rockefeller, Guggenheim and Fulbright fellowships, and the Modern Language Association's Hubbell Medal for Lifetime Contributions to the Study of American Literature.
"Though we're saddened by his death, we certainly need to celebrate his extraordinary life," said Joyce Troy, who was Fiedler's secretary for the last 30 years. "He had touched so many people. And though you might not have always agreed with him, he made you think, and he made you support your position. And isn't that what a good teacher is all about?"
Troy spent the last year traveling to Fiedler's house so that he could continue to work, despite his disease. Fiedler dictated his work to Troy, since he was too weak to travel to the university.
Prior to Fiedler's death, he and Troy were four pages into his critical essay on the work of D. H. Lawrence.
"I think one of the most remarkable things about him is that he worked until the day he died," Troy said softly, as she bowed her head and closed her eyes.
Troy had planned to visit his home yesterday to continue work on the piece.
Fiedler joined UB's staff in 1964 but spent leave time lecturing at universities around the globe, including ones in Italy, Israel, Venezuela, France and Korea.
"He was part of a group of brilliant faculty that Albert Cook put together here in the '60s to make Buffalo the most exciting English department in the country, and I don't think there's ever been a department like it," said Bruce Jackson, distinguished professor of English and Samuel P. Capen professor of American culture. "Leslie was at the heart of it."
