A Fair Voice

I am not sure when I first met LaVonne Brown Ruoff in person. I think it was at the Newberry Library in conjunction with the D'Arcy McNickle Center for the History of the American Indian. Like any student of American Indian literatures, I found her writing among the first thoughtful critical approaches. I devoured Redefining American Literary History (1990). I felt meeting her was an honor, and I could immediately feel her good spirit.

However, I do remember my first intense conversation with LaVonne. In 1997, shortly after Michael Dorris took his life, the Minneapolis newspaper ran an "investigative" story about Dorris and Louise Erdrich. The story seemed like acid poured on open wounds. LaVonne boldly stepped up and wrote a letter to the editor that corrected some of the story's information and noted the cruelty of the approach. In our conversation about the newspaper piece, I thanked her for her courage. I had the sense that she would have done the same wherever and whenever she felt that kind of injustice.

LaVonne has generously encouraged my work with Zitkala-Ša (Gertrude Simmons Bonnin). She was among the first scholars to look at the era when Zitkala-Ša, Pauline Johnson, George Copway, Alice Callahan, and others were writing. Her work with the Modern Language Association helped to legitimize institutionally the study of American Indian literatures and to reintroduce some overlooked writers.

Whether in the halls of academia, the real life defense of inequity, entertaining guests, or hauling around a hoard of people in her van, LaVonne is gracious, witty, and giving.