The death of Patrick O'Neill

[Anton Wagner]

I too am shocked and saddened by Patrick's death and am sending condolences to
Dianne.

In November of 2003, I had the opportunity of writing the following supporting
letter for Patrick's Fulbright scholarship application. I will be dedicating my
May 27 ACTR presentation, "Canada's Cultural Revolution: Creating the Perfect
City," to Patrick's memory.

The Canada-U.S. Fulbright Program
350 Albert Street, Suite 2015
Ottawa, Ontario K1R 1A4

Re: Patrick B. O’Neill

Dear Adjudication Committee:

I have known Patrick O’Neill for over 25 years since I was the founding
secretary of the Association for Canadian Theatre History in 1976. Patrick was
first elected onto the executive of the ACTH (subsequently the Association for
Canadian Theatre Research) in 1978. He presented many of his research papers at
the annual Learned Societies meetings of the ACTH/ACTR. The papers were
invariably meticulously researched, based on solid bibliographic, historical
and archival research, and shed new light on previously unknown or little known
aspects of Canadian cultural history.

I had the opportunity of working with Patrick when we were both associate
editors of the Bibliography of Theatre History in Canada: The Beginnings
Through 1984 (Toronto: ECW Press, 1993). He is well known and respected for the
accuracy of his bibliographic data. I again worked with Patrick on a
Canada-wide, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council funded history of
theatre criticism in Canada that I organized and edited for publication
(Establishing Our Boundaries: English Canadian Theatre Criticism. Anton Wagner,
ed. University of Toronto Press, 1999). Patrick contributed the 31-page chapter
“From Puffery to Criticism—-William Lyon Mackenzie, Joseph Howe, and Daniel
Morrison: Theatre Criticism in Halifax and Toronto, 1826-1857.” His careful
examination of newspapers on microfilm, distilling data and then cross checking
facts with other published sources, playbills, diaries and other archival
materials allowed him to write an illuminating chapter contrasting cultural
developments in the two cities.

Patrick is one of the few senior scholars in Canadian theatre studies who takes
the extensive time and energy required for original archival research. Whether
examining volumes of copyright records or large collections of sheet music and
playbills, Patrick has the genuine interest and research skills to synthesize
quantities of data and draw insightful conclusions from them. He is well
organized, generous in sharing his accumulated research with others, has a good
sense of humour and works well with colleagues.

I find Patrick’s proposal for his Fulbright research program to be a logical and
fruitful extension of his previous archival theatre research in Canada. The
question of the influence of American actors and touring companies on Canadian
cultural developments has always been of great interest. But this topic
requires extensive archival research and the careful examination of economic,
social, political, artistic and other cultural factors. This has not been done
in the comprehensive manner Patrick O’Neill outlines in his application. I am
not aware of anyone else in the field who would provide more reliable and
informative conclusions from the American theatre collections to be examined.

I hope the Canada-U.S. Fulbright Program will be able to support Patrick
O’Neill’s research application and very much look forward to the results of the
research Patrick will be able to present to other Canadian and American scholars
with the assistance of the Fulbright Program.


Quoting Denis Salter <denis.salter at MCGILL.CA>:

> Dear Colleagues,
>
>
>
> I am writing with the sad news that Patrick O'Neill died on Thursday while at
> a conference in Galway. He was an exemplary, rigorous scholar, and generous
> friend to many, who did so much painstaking and dedicated work to establish
> the foundations and the development of Canadian theatre history over a career
> spanning nearly four decades. He moved from the University of Saskatchewan in
> 1975 to become a Professor of Speech and Drama at Mount Saint Vincent
> University in Halifax.  He recently served as Director of Research and
> International Liaison Officer for the Mount, and had returned last autumn to
> full-time teaching and research. He was a Fulbright Scholar in Boston during
> 2004-I remember him telling me vivid stories about the wonderful research
> libraries there and the many happy hours he spent in the Boston Athenaeum-and
> he was engaged in several large projects, including writing a comprehensive
> history of the Halifax stage. Embodying the life of the scholar as gentleman,
> he had a delightful, dry sense of humour, never taking himself or his work
> too seriously; he took enormous pleasure in sharing his research findings and
> helped many scholars at various stages of their careers.  He regularly
> delivered papers to the annual ACTR conference; ACTR was a kind of second
> family to him. He was a man who loved to learn, not just in order to publish,
> but because he was insatiably curious.   Patrick is mourned by his wife,
> Dianne; his sons, St. John (Lesley) of Hamilton, and Brendan of Victoria; and
> his sister, Margaret (James Lynn) of Ottawa and Florida. He will be fondly
> remembered by extended family, friends, colleagues, and the many students
> whom he taught and inspired. A memorial service will be held tomorrow in St.
> Matthias Church, Chebucto Road, in Halifax, at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers,
> donations in his memory may be made to the MSVU Scholarship Endowment Fund.
>
>
>
> --Denis Salter
>
>
>
>
>
> __________________________________________________________
> "When a people forget a language, they forfeit the heart of who they
> are and the ability to comprehend the stories that are central to their
> cultural, spiritual and emotional health."--Keren Rice.
> ____________________________________________________________________
> "That's what hybrids were invented for: survival in changing
> ecologies."--Lisa Doolittle
> _______________________________________________________________________
> "To celebrate this award, and the work it recognizes of those around the
> world, let me recall the words of Gandhi: 'My life is my message.' Also,
> plant a tree."  Wangari Maathai, winner of the 2004 Nobel Prize for Peace.
>
> __________________________________________________
> Denis Salter
> Professor of Theatre
> McGill University
> 853 Sherbrooke St. West
> Montréal, QC
> H3A 2T6
> Tel (514) 398 6550
> Regular Fax (514) 398 8146
> Computer Fax (309) 294 0444
> denis.salter at mcgill.ca
> d.salter at videotron.ca
> __________________