In the fall of 1982 my parents sent their sheltered, high-minded youngest off to college in Wisconsin. During my first two years, I took maybe three or four classes with Marion K. Stocking, who, along with her husband David and Roxie Alexander, belonged to what fellow English professor Tom McBride referred to as Beloit’s greatest generation. It’s the kind of hoary rhetoric they always trot out at memorials, but it’s true: something generational passed away with her on May 12.
I learned about the New Criticism from Marion. I don’t know if she practiced it in her later reviews, but her criticism of individual poems was frank, practical and focused on the work itself rather than its ideological sources, as evidenced in her correspondence with Seattle poet Peter Munro. Peter didn’t have the pleasure of discovering poets and playwrights with her as guide, as I did, but I do remember him telling me how rare it was to get such nurturing feedback from an editor.
Edward Albee, Samuel Beckett, T.S. Eliot — this was the current crop of writers in their prime when Marion began teaching. And she never failed to convey what was so good about them. She clearly loved her work, and it seems to have nourished her well beyond retirement. Or “retirement.” I only wish I could have thanked her in person for all the lights she turned on for me.
0 responses so far ↓
There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.