Laudatio

Laudatio We dedicate volume 7 to Professor E.B. Holtsmark, who will'be retiring at the end of the 1996-97 academic year. ???a µe ???sa?«•?te??a?, ?????? d' a?t? µe????&? ???. "Jack" Holtsmark received his B.A. in Greek from the University of California at Berkeley in 1959 and went on to receive his Ph.D. in Classics from the same institution in 1963. He joined the department of Classics at the University of Iowa in fall of 1963. He was promoted to full professor in 1982. Jack served as chair of the Department here for twelve years, from 1982 through 1993. Although he has published widely on numerous scholarly topics from Homer to Quintilian, from classical linguistics to classics in modem cinema, he is perhaps best known for his interest in popular culture, which includes Tarzan and Travis McGee. Jack's interest in popularizing Classics informed one of the directions the department would take. Under his leadership, more courses in English were added to the curriculum, which resulted in a dramatic increase in enrollment. In the early 80's Jack encouraged students and faculty alike to embrace computer technology, which we now happily admit we cannot live without. During Jack's chairmanship we launched a new classics journal, for which he served as co-editor. In addition, several years ago Jack achieved local fame for himself and for the department through a column that appeared weekly in die student newspaper entitled "Antiquity and Modernity." In this column he discussed how various social, cultural, and political problems that faced the ancients are similar to those facing us today. Recently because of his expertise on Edgar Rice Burroughs and Tarzan, Jack was interviewed for a documentary on the Tarzan phenomenon mat is to air in late December of this year on Canadian TV (and possibly later on PBS and the Discovery Channel). The breadth and depth of his learning have benefitted undergraduates as well as graduate students. For those of us who have known Jack for a long time, his retiring in spring of 1997 seems inconceivable. He has been a good friend, superb colleague, and compassionate mentor. Despite the fact that we will miss Jack terribly, we wish him much welldeserved otium and great happiness. The Editors Publications of E.B. Holtsmark: Books: "Tarzan and Tradition: Classical Myth in Popular Literature," Contributions to the Study ofPopular Culture 1 (Westport 1981). "Edgar Rice Burroughs," Twayne's United States Author Series 499 (Boston 1986). Co-editor of ARS LYRICA: The Lyrical Arts, A Humanities Symposium (Lyrica Society, August 1988). Syllecta Classica vols. 1-5 (Iowa City 1989-94). Articles: "Spiritual Rebirth of the Hero: Odyssey 5," CJ 61 (1966) 206-10. "Poetry as Self-Enlightenment: Theocritus 11," TAPA 97(1966)253-9. "On CHOEPHOROI 585-651," CW 59 (1966) 215-6, 251. "A VergiUan Catalogue," Classical Outlook 44 (1967) 52-3. "On Lucretius 2.1-19," TAPA 98 (1967) 193-204. "Lucretius and the Fools," CJ 63 (1968) 260-1. "Quintilian on Status: A Progymnasma," Hermes 96 (1968) 356-68. "Ring Composition and the PERSAE of Aeschylus," 50 45 (1970) 5-23. 'The Bath of Claudius Etrascus," CJ 68.3 (1973) 216-20. "Magnus Robot-Fighter: The Future Looks at the Present through the Past," Journal ofPopular Culture 12.4 (1979) 702-20. "Travis McGee as Traditional Hero," (abstract), The John D. MacDonald Bibliophile 24(1979)11-12. "Lucretius, the Biochemistry of Olfaction, and Scientific Discovery," Euphrosyne 9 (1978-1979) 7-18. "Travis McGee as Traditional Hero," Clues: A Journal of Detection 1.1 (1980) 99-102. "A Note on Logotactic Iconicity (Catullus 1 and 47)" LCM 12.9 (1987) 13032 . "On Latin bo:s" Historische Sprachforschung 101.1 (1988) 127-37. "Unhappyfelix Niobe: Ovid M.6.284-5," Éranos 86 (1988)71-73. "The katabasis Theme in Modem Cinema," in Classics and Cinema, M.M. Winkler, ed. (1991)60-80. "W. Somerset Maugham's Use of Aristotle and Ovid in 'The Pool'," Classical and Modern Uterature 13.3 (1993) 217-27. "Classical Influences on American Popular Culture," Chapter in one of a fourvolume series on the classical influence in the Americas, to be published by the University of Tübingen...