The death of Patrick O'Neill

[Jerry Wasserman]

Denis Salter wrote:

> *
>
> *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 <mailto:denis.salter at mcgill.ca>
> d.salter at videotron.ca <mailto:d.salter at videotron.ca>
> __________________*

I add my voice to those in shock and mourning at Patrick's sudden death. 
As a latecomer to Canadian theatre and to theatre history, I admired 
Patrick as a pioneer and expert in the fields to which I would become an 
avid convert. His methodical dedication to research, his encyclopedic 
knowledge of source materials, his insatiable appetite for the minutiae 
of early Canadian theatre constantly amazed me. And he was enormously 
generous. I regularly queried him via email about theatre-historical 
conundrums: in what sense can Robert Rogers' Ponteach be considered a 
Canadian play? were Captain McDonald's Indians reviewed in New York in 
1876? And I always received lengthy replies filled with judicious 
considerations along with quotations, reviews, and valuable research 
leads. Patrick was a fine scholar, doing a kind of work which too few of 
us, and even fewer of our students, are doing today. And he was a lovely 
man. He will be missed.

Jerry Wasserman