[Reading-hall-of-fame] Re: FW: Dr. Roger Farr Passing

Fri Aug 2 04:52:44 BST 2019

All week, I have been thinking about what I could say to mark the passing
of Roger Farr, a long time friend, colleague, and sparring partner when it
came to matters of assessment.  And then I remembered something I had
written about Roger and his RRQ co-editor, Sam Weintraub, when I was a new
assistant professor at Minnesota.  It was in a 2013 issue of the Journal of
Education when it was so ably edited by our RHF colleague, Lee Indrisano.

Lee asked me and one of my doctoral advisees, Kate Frankel, to write a
commentary about collaborative research for JE.  I agreed, as did Kate.  In
that journal appears my 1974 RRQ dissertation article (all about syntactic
and semantic complexity) and a piece by Kate. Those two articles are
accompanied by s commentary with 3 stories—my story, Kate’s story, and our
story.  My story is about how that 1974-75 piece came into being, and the
major role that Roger and Sam played in seeing it through to publication. I
think it is the best tribute I could pay to Roger and his legacy to the
field. Here is the critical segment:

“The article reprinted here was published in Reading Research Quarterly in
the journal’s 1974–75 publication year. It was based on my dissertation,
which was completed in 1969. By my calculations, that is a five-year gap
between completion and publication. Why such long time lag? Was I just too
lazy or too busy with new courses and the other duties of an assistant
professor to pursue publication? Not really! While I might have been busy,
I surely wasn’t lazy when it came to trying to get the work published. In
early 1970, I submitted it to the Journal of Educational Psychology,
received a revise and resubmit recommendation; revised, resubmitted, and
was rejected. That nearly two-year ordeal brought me to early 1972.

After four months of wallowing in dejection and self-doubt, I summoned up
the grit needed to revamp it and send it off to RRQ. Predictably, I
received another revise and resubmit; revised, resubmitted, and yet another
revise and resubmit. That cycle of revising and resubmitting, all the while
in close interaction with the editors, Roger Farr and Sam Weintraub, went
on for another 18 months until they were satisfied that the manuscript was
not only technically sound but rhetorically effective. Even though Roger
and Sam put me through the revision wringer, I am forever grateful for
their focused and helpful feedback and their undying patience with a
struggling young researcher. They could have easily “written me off ” after
the first round of reviews (reviewers wanted a lot of changes!), but they
didn’t. They stayed with me through what seemed like an endless stream of
revisions. But in the end, there emerged a product in which both the author
and the editors could take a modicum of pride.

I am both fond and proud of this article, but for different reasons.

Fond of it because it embodies what I aspire to do in reporting
research—establish a strong relationship between theory and research. I
have always thought that the most important role for research was to
provide an empirical database to evaluate which among two or more competing
theories of a mental, social, or pedagogical process provides the best
account of the evidence available. An index of the article’s impact is that
Robert Ruddell and his various co-editors of Theoretical Models and
Processes of Reading selected it to appear in multiple editions of their
influential volume. Bob once told me that it was precisely the theory
evaluation focus of the article that led to his decision. By the way, when
you read this 39-year-old piece, think about it in light of all the
emphasis we are placing on text complexity these days.

Proud of it because of the process that led to its publication. Even the
rejections, the revisions, the resubmits, and the numerous requests by the
editors to fine-tune the piece in its final stages were important to the
process—for they taught me three important lessons. First, stamina,
endurance, and belief in oneself are the pathway to scholarly success.
Second, you can always use a little help from your friends—and your
editors. I would never have published the piece without Roger and Sam’s
support and faith in me as an emerging scholar. Third—and this follows from
the second— you can learn a lot more about your own writing once you learn
how to examine it from the perspective of those who read it, even criticize
it. So now, whenever I receive a negative review (and I still get them!), I
allow myself a day to wallow in self-pity and accuse the reviewers of
ignorance or mean-spiritedness. Then I shift gears and ask, “If I had been
sitting where they were sitting and looking at this manuscript through
their lens, might I have reached the same conclusion?” And if the answer to
that question is, “Yes,” or even “Maybe,” then I have to ask myself an even
more important question, “What do I have to learn from this review— and how
can I use the feedback to make this an even better manuscript?” It might be
the scholarly equivalent of “turning the other cheek” and learning from
one’s missteps. Those three lessons have served me well. I hope they can be
of help to others!“

Thanks you, Roger!!!!

From:Frankel, K. K., & Pearson, P. D. (2013). Reflections on becoming a
researcher.  *Journal of Education, 193*(1), 31-34. Reprinted without
permission!

ps:  Ken Goodman had to put up with my rantings and ravings about picky
editors and getting things into print during the 4 year period of
rejections from 1970-74.  I often leaned on him (accosted him is more like
it--at IRA) to provide moral support for my sagging ego and sense of
self-worth.  Thanks, Ken.

On Fri, Jul 26, 2019 at 9:50 AM Douglas Ray Reutzel <Ray.Reutzel at uwyo.edu>
wrote:

>
>
> From: Douglass Reutzel <ray.reutzel at uwyo.edu>
> Date: Friday, July 26, 2019 at 10:48 AM
> To: "reading-hall-of-fame-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk" <
> reading-hall-of-fame-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk>
> Subject: Dr. Roger Farr Passing
>
> Dear Reading Hall of Fame Colleagues:
>
> Probably all of us remember the multitude of contributions that Dr. Roger
> Farr made to literacy. I am sad to convey to you that he passed away.  I
> received the following email from Jennifer Conner:
>
> Dear Dr. Reutzel,
>
>
>
> As the president of the Reading Hall of Fame, I wanted to let you know
> that Roger Farr, who was inducted in 1986, passed away on Wednesday of this
> week. He had a stroke about two months ago, but recovered fairly well from
> it. A few weeks ago, though, he developed a blood infection, and his health
> deteriorated quickly. He is survived by his wife, Joyce. Roger was a dear
> friend, colleague, and mentor of mine.
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jenny
>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Jennifer Conner, Ph.D.
>
> Division Head, Division of Education
>
> Associate Professor of Literacy, Culture, and Language Education
>
> Indiana University-Purdue University of Columbus (IUPUC)
>
> 4601 Central Ave.
>
> Columbus, Indiana 47203
>
> 812.348.7278
>
> jmconner at iu.edu
>
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>
>
>
>
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-- 
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
P. David Pearson
Evelyn Lois Corey *Emeritus* Professor of Instructional Science
and Professor of the Graduate School
Graduate School of Education
4220 Berkeley Way West #1670
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley CA 94720-1670
GSE Office: 510 543 6508
email:  ppearson at berkeley.edu
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*******************
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