On November 28, 2007 we honored the life and work of Dr. Rene Jara as a professor, a mentor, a scholar, and a citizen of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies at the University of Minnesota for 28 years. After battling a serious illness, Rene passed away at his home on November 19.
At the memorial, colleagues and students were invited to share their memories of Rene, which were collected and presented to his family. Resounding themes in the remembrances were Rene's insatiable thirst for knowledge, his textual erudition, his scholarship, and his intellectual energy.
Professor Nicholas Spadaccini referred to Rene as "the best read person in our department." That sentiment, along with others, was repeated several times throughout the memorial service. His extraordinary knowledge of all areas of Hispanic literatures assisted him in his undergraduate teaching, graduate student advising, and academic publications. Colleagues stated that, regardless of the topic of conversation, Rene always managed to direct the group toward literature.
In addition to his consummate scholarship, Rene was beloved by his students and colleagues. His passion for poetry was contagious. As former colleague Antonio Ramos Gascon stated, "With a Nerudian passion for people and things, Rene connected with life--family members, friends, texts, writing, objects--by way of poetry." Perhaps it is fitting that Jenaro Talens summed up his feelings for Rene through a poem titled "Recapitulaciones."
Quedate a solas con la luz.
Mirala arder como un volar inmovil.
Hoy el mar esta lejos; dentro, incluso, de ti
Y un sol liquido esparce la neblina
Mientras tus pies te llevan a la noche
Con la belleza absorta del ocaso
Alumbrando el camino,
Esta otra forma de la muerte en flor.
Professor Jara's presence in our department and the University community will be hard to forget. Rene's memory will persist through our colleagues' anecdotes, his students' passion for literature, and his dedication to teaching.
We now remember René's office the way it used to be. It had a border ring of white geese around the top of the walls along the ceiling. I HATED those "ducks" and talked incessantly about "getting rid of the ducks" and repainting the room. Well, it never happened because René actually liked "the ducks" (they're actually geese, but this was the pre-homesteading era before I actually knew the difference between the two!) I couldn't stand working in that room because everytime I looked up (busy thinking...) I was distracted by those damn ducks!
Well, I'm feeling sentimental about them but they had to go. The room has to be painted so they are gone now. Before I scraped them off the wall I called the kids in to say "goodbye". They were a little sad about it and I felt some guilt so I took the pictures of the memorable "ducks". Oh, I might mention that I did not put the ducks there in the first place. The room was a children's play room before we bought the house. Once René moved in there with his desks and books there was NO getting him out of there to repaint the room. It is still kind of fascinating that he LIKED them...
Goodbye ducks...
