The first president of the Thomas Wolfe Society (1985) and one of its founding fathers, Duane Schneider (Ohio University), passed away on December 26, 2012.
He will be deeply missed by his friends in the Thomas Wolfe Society.
Duane was a recipient of the TWS Citation of Merit for his efforts in forming the Thomas Wolfe Society. As president, he organized the first two TWS annual meetings in Asheville (1980) and in Chapel Hill (1981). A TWS distinguished service director, Duane was also a Consulting Editor for The Thomas Wolfe Review. Several of his articles appeared within its pages such as “American Editions of Look Homeward, Angel: An Informal Survey” (Fall 1979); “The House of the Far and Lost: Search and Discovery” (Spring 1990); and “Imagination and Fantasy in the Works of Thomas Wolfe” (Spring 1998).
He compiled A Thomas Wolfe Collection (Athens, Ohio: Croissant & Company, 1977, 14 pages)–an exhibition catalogue of books by and about Thomas Wolfe, shown at the Vern Roger Alden Library, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, March 1-April 15, 1977. The compilation of 185 items (100 titles) of American and English editions of works by and about Wolfe, featured some not listed previously in Wolfe bibliograhies or checklists, and came in a limited editon of 300 copies.
Duane operated his own publishing firm, Croissant & Company, printing on a hand press he operated himself in the 1970-80s. Works he published related to Thomas Wolfe included:
- Ray Bradbury’s Forever and the Earth (Athens, Ohio: Croissant & Company, 1984)
- Aldo P. Magi’s (editor) A Prologue to America (Athens, Ohio: Croissant & Company, 1978)
- Richard Walser’s Thomas Wolfe’s Pennsylvania (Athens, Ohio: Croissant & Company, 1978)
- Aldo P. Magi and Richard Walser’s (editors) Thomas Wolfe Our Friend 1933-1938, by Clayton and Kathleen Hoagland (Athens, Ohio: Croissant & Company, 1979)
- Samuel Marx’s Thomas Wolfe and Hollywood (Athens, Ohio: Croissant & Company, 1980)
- Richard S. Kennedy’s (editor) Thomas Wolfe: A Harvard Perspective (Athens, Ohio: Croissant & Company, 1980)
In addition, he wrote:
- “Thomas Wolfe and the Quest for Language” (Ohio University Press, Vol. 11, 1969)
- “Thomas Wolfe, England and Look Homeward, Angel” (within Thomas Wolfe: A Harvard Perspective)
- “Thomas Wolfe (1900-1938) in First Printings of American Authors” (editor Matthew Bruccoli, Vol. 1, Detroit, Gale, 1977)
As well as the following book reviews:
- Library Journal, Review (Thomas Wolfe by Andrew Turnbull) 1968
- Mississippi Quarterly, “The Re-emergence of Thomas Wolfe” (Review of My Other Loneliness: Letters of Thomas Wolfe and Aline Bernstein) Vol. XXXVII, Spring 1984, No. 2
- Resources for American Literary Study, Review (Look Homeward: A Life of Thomas Wolfe by David Herbert Donald) , Vol. 18 #1, 1992
- Library Journal, Review (Thomas Wolfe by Neil Austin) 1993
- Library Journal, Review (Thomas Wolfe’s Albatross: Race and Nationality in America by Paschal Reeves) 1994
Duane’s obituary is available at: http://www.jagersfuneralhome.com/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=1888547&fh_id=13446
Share a memory, a note of condolence or sign the online register book at: http://www.legacy.com/guestbook/Batesville/guestbook.aspx?n=duane-schneider&pid=162016285
