On May 21, 2016, Citations of Merit were awarded to two Thomas Wolfe Society (TWS) members: Robert G. Anthony, Jr., and Bob R. Powell.

Robert G. Anthony, Jr. one of the two 2016 TWS Citation of Merit Award Winners

The citations were presented at the TWS Awards Banquet culminating the Society’s 38^th Annual Meeting, held in Asheville, North Carolina.

As Curator of the North Carolina Collection at the University of North Carolina’s Wilson Library, Bob Anthony has served as an able guardian of materials relative to the life, work, and legacy of Thomas Clayto

n Wolfe. Working tactfully and assiduously with collectors and donors, he has actively and creatively pursued the acquisition of documents, photographs, art works, and memorabilia relative to Wolfe, his family, and his literary legacy.

In addition to maintaining and expanding the Collection’s holdings, Bob has used his knowledge and his position to facilitate research and publishing relative to Wolfe’s life and work. He has organized important exhibitions featuring or including Wolfe materials and arranged for a number of important Wolfean publications, including two portfolios of original illustrations for Look Homeward, Angel. He has welcomed Wolfe scholars to Wilson Library and granted permissions for collection materials to be used in publications, and he has acted over the years as an important contributor to and supporter of The Thomas Wolfe Review. 

Additionally, Bob is a valued and loyal member of the Thomas Wolfe Society, actively participating in TWS conferences over the past two decades and serving as Chapel Hill organizer and gracious host in 2013. Not only has Bob himself been a dedicated member of the community of Wolfe scholars and readers, but he has also facilitated the participation of library staff and members of the Chapel Hill community, leading an impressive delegation to, for instance, the 2009 Wolfe conference in Paris. Bob’s contributions are impressive and valuable; it must also be noted that his work on behalf of Wolfe studies and the Society is done with generosity, good humor, modesty, and courtesy. An admirably impressive professional, Bob is also a thoughtful and generous friend to Wolfeans near and far.

Dr. Bob R. Powell, TWS Treasurer for over 21 years, one of our two 2016 TWS Citation of Merit Award Winners

2016 marks the twenty-first year that Dr. Bob R. Powell has served as our Society’s Treasurer, and our financial health over the past two decades owes much to his thoroughness and care in attending to the various fiscal matters of our Society–as they relate to investment, receipt of gifts, budgeting, development of TWS projects, and the many, many details associated with our annual conferences.  So, in essence, he has served as an entire financial firm for us, a single individual covering the areas of procurement, accounts payable, financial advising, and foundation management. And he has generously and graciously served in all of these capacities with unstinting rigor and without compensation for twenty years. 

Furthermore, Bob, an enthusiastic member of our Society for over twenty years, has regularly attended our conferences and supported our programs. Notably, Bob played an important role in the campaign to ensure that the U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp in honor of Thomas Wolfe. He has also served for many years as a careful and conscientious member of the Editorial Board of The Thomas Wolfe Review.

In view of his talent, energy, and dedication to the financial health and stability of the Thomas Wolfe Society, Bob Powell was awarded a Citation of Merit.

We invite all TWS members to join in congratulating these two new recipients of the Society’s highest honor, our Citation of Merit.