The Lyle E. Linville Memorial
Humanities Lecture
May 1, 2001
Two years ago,
Prince
George's Community College lost a brilliant scholar, an enlightened
teacher,
a best friend, and a guiding light. For those of you who didn't
know
Lyle Linville, please indulge me for a few minutes. For in some
ways,
your loss is greater than those of us who knew him. You have lost
the opportunity to learn from, work with, and enjoy the company of a
true
scholar.
I use the term true scholar
because this word-scholar-is bandied about these days by some who do
not
understand its meaning. Scholar is a simple word. It comes
from Latin and means school.
Thus, in one sense, those of
us who teach and those of you who learn in schools, are scholars.
Professors are not the only ones who deserve this title.
Lyle Linville personified
the
word scholar in its most modern sense. His research was
impeccable.
His intellectual capacity and output, unparalleled. His
curiosity,
boundless. His mastery of the humanities in general and history
in
particular was the envy of students, colleagues, and ivy league
professors.
Yet even with these
characteristics
to his credit, Lyle Linville possessed a singular quality that elevated
his scholarship. Like all true scholars, he loved to learn.
He shared this passion and, as a result, made all of us better
scholars.
There was nothing Lyle loved better than the search for
knowledge.
In a sense, he was Plato and Aristotle combined. Like Plato, Lyle
asked us the questions that every scholar should face. But like
Aristotle,
he helped us answer those questions.
Yet don't assume that Lyle
was
a history scholar lost somewhere in antiquity. He was also a very
modern man. He tooled around in his sports car, liked his single
malt scotch neat, and could tell a bawdy joke with the best of
them.
He adored his wife and children, appreciated his colleagues, and loved
his students. This was not a stuffy scholar but a joyous man.
My favorite visual image of
Lyle is captured in a montage of photographs I have in my office.
They were taken at the first annual Bluebird Blues Festival. When
Lyle and I founded that festival in 1993, I never dreamed it would grow
into the huge success it is today. Lyle knew better. In one
of the montage's picture I am gesturing-wildly-at the festival
photographer.
My frantic face is strained. Near this photograph is a picture of
Lyle calmly reading the festival program. His face is serene ad
he
is smiling. He knows that all will be well. That good
scholarship
by good people will always succeed.
Although Lyle would be
pleased
by my little speech today, he would also be a little annoyed.
Stop
talking, he'd say, and get to the matter at hand. No more
eulogies,
no more tributes. Let's do scholarship. Let the audience
hear
what it means to be a scholar. So, I apologize and conclude.
Like all great scholars,
Lyle
sought truth and found ways to share those truths with all of us.
We continue that tradition today by introducing our speaker for the
second
annual Lyle E. Linville Humanities Lecture.