Notes on Contributors

Notes on Contributors David K. Barnhart formally began work in dictionary editing in 1966 on the Thorndike-Barnhart dictionary series under the tutelage of his father, Clarence L. Barnhart. He is currendy editing The Barnhart Dictionary Companion, a quarterly of new words, meanings, and usages. Other related interests include the history of lexicography and the development of the American English lexicon. Frederic G. Cassidy is Editor-in-Chiefof the Dictionary ofAmerican Regional English. Born in Jamaica, he came to the U.S. at age eleven. He took B.S. and M.A. degrees at Oberlin College then attended the University of Michigan where in 1938 he received a Ph.D. At Michigan he was introduced to lexicography, working on the Early Modern English Dictionary project and coming back for a summer in 1942 to work on the MiddhEnglish Dictionary. He served as a consultant to the Funk & Wagnalls Company, and in 1967, with Robert LePage, published the Dictwnary ofJamaican English. From 1939-1978 he taught in the English Department at the University of Wisconsin, where he continues to work full time on DARE during his "retirement." Gregory M. Downing is Assistant Professor in the Gallatin School of Individualized Study ofNewYork University. His B.A. is from the University of Michigan Honors Program in English with a secondary concentration in languages and linguistics. His graduate degrees are in Comparative Literature from NYU. He is working on Joyce's background in philology, linguistics, and the history of ideas. David O. Frantz is a Professor of English at Ohio State University . He teaches Renaissance literature and has published on Renaissance erotica, Spenser, and Florio. His research is focused primarily on the relationship of Italy and England in the Renaissance. Edward Gates is Professor Emeritus of English at Indiana State University where he developed a master's degree program in lexicography . He has served the DSNA as president, secretary-treasurer, and newsletter editor (1977-1988). His research interests are lexicography and lexicology, particularly idiomatic phrases. His publications include Dictionary ofIdwmsfor theDeaf (coeditor) , An Analysis ofthe Lexicographic Resources Used by American Biblical Schobrs Today, Papers on Lexicography in Honor of Warren N. Cordell (coeditor) , and reviews and articles on the training of lexicographers and on idioms and their lexicographic treatment. He is Vice-President and President-elect of the DSNA. 214Notes on Contributors E.W. Gilman joined the staff of Webster's Third New InternationalDictionary ofthe English Language Unabridged in 1958 and has been trying to improve his lexicographical skills ever since. He was principal editor of Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Usage (1989) and is senior editor and director of defining at Merriam-Webster Inc. He is currently engaged in forming a Special Interest Group for the restoration of the adverb pretty to standard status injournals. George H. Goebel is an Editor of the Dictionary ofAmerican Regional English, where he has been since 1983, except for a two-year hiatus teaching at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He has a Ph.D. in Classics from the University of Wisconsin. His previous publications have mostly concerned ancient rhetorical theory and its influence , with a brief foray into musicology. He organized the exhibit of English dictionaries held in the Department of Special Collections at the University of Wisconsin Memorial Library in conjunction with the 1997 DSNA meeting. Joan Houston Hall is Associate Editor of the Dictionary of American Regional English. Having lived in Ohio, California, Idaho, Georgia, Oregon, Maine, and Wisconsin, and having done field work for the Dialect Survey of Rural Georgia as part of a dissertation for Emory University (1976), she is well versed in the realities of dialect variation. She has written numerous articles about DARE and coedited Old English and New: Essays in Language and Literature in Honor ofFrederic G. Cassidy (Garland, 1992). With Luanne von Schneidemesser she cochaired the 11th biennial meeting of DSNA in May 1997. Virginia McDavid is Professor Emérita of English at Chicago State University. She is past President of the Dictionary Society of North America and of the American Dialect Society. She was editor of the Publication of the American Diahct Society and of the Illinois Schools Journal Her ongoing research is with the various...