Larry Sawyer photo 5 The RAPS Sheet May 2021 JOHN R. COOPER, a professor of English who served Portland State for more than four decades, died March 29 after a fall at his home in Portland. He was 88 years old. Professor Cooper was born May 14, 1932, in a taxicab in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, to Irene and Reginald Cooper. He was the Coopers’ second son, joining his older brother, George. In 1937, the family moved to England, where Reginald had been born, and remained there throughout World War II. In 1946, the Coopers returned to North America aboard a Norwegian steamer. The family settled in Toronto before moving to Corning, New York, where Professor Cooper completed high school. In 1954 he received a B.A. from the University at Albany. He joined the Army and, while stationed in Germany, became a U.S. citizen. When he returned to the United States, he entered Yale University and earned an M.A. in 1957 and a Ph.D. in 1962. Professor Cooper began his teaching career at the University of Chicago, where he published his first book, The Art of “The Compleat Angler,” which examined Izaak Walton’s 17th-century literary manual on the art and spirt of fishing. It was also at Chicago that Professor Cooper met and married Patricia Jones. A son, Matthew, was born in 1967. The family then moved to Portland, where Professor Cooper taught at Reed College. In 1969 a daughter, Jennifer, was born to the couple. The Coopers later divorced, and some years later Professor Cooper and Terry Ann Rohe, a PSU librarian, were married. In 1970 Professor Cooper joined the English faculty at Portland State. In a letter to the editor published in The Oregonian in April 2019, in which he defended the quality of public higher education, Professor Cooper recalled that he had never regretted his decision to teach at Portland State. “At PSU, I found well-educated colleagues doing important scholarship,” he wrote, “and though the range of students’ ability was wide, the best students were as good as the best students anywhere.” His teaching concentrated on poetry, comedy, and Shakespeare. He was particularly interested in rhythm and meter in poetry and spoke at an international conference on those subjects in Germany in 1998. Wit’s Voices: Intonation in Seventeenth-Century English Poetry, which showed how 17thcentury English lyric poets were able to control how their poetry sounded when read aloud, was published in 2009. In memoriam: John R. Cooper, 1932-2021 During his career at Portland State, Professor Cooper served as head of the English Department, president of the Faculty Senate, and president of the Interinstitutional Faculty Senate for the Oregon University System. Professor Cooper received the George Hoffmann Award for Faculty Excellence in 1997. He retired two years later, although he continued to teach for several years. Professor Cooper was an active hiker, cross-country skier, and runner. He volunteered as a speaker for the Oregon Food Bank and drove for Meals on Wheels. He was a member of the Multnomah Athletic Club, the Elizabethan Society of Yale, and the Ferdinand Society. He was also a member of RAPS, which recognized him with the Outstanding Retired Faculty Award in 2007. He served on the RAPS Board and as editor of The RAPS Sheet. Professor Cooper is survived by his wife, Terry; his son, Matthew, and daughter-in law Minnie; his daughter, Jenna; granddaughter Samantha; sister-in-law Nell Cooper; nephews Tim and Chris and their families; cousins Charles and Heather Ireland; and a host of friends. Professor Cooper’s brother, George, predeceased him. Remembrances may be made to the Oregon Food Bank or the Portland State Department of English through the PSU Foundation. A memorial service was held at Grace Memorial Episcopal Church. A larger celebration of life will be held later this summer or fall. Jack Cooper and Terry Ann Rohe, 2017.
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