[Reading-hall-of-fame] Re: [EXT] Re: I just got this message this instant

Wed Dec 16 19:16:35 GMT 2020

I, like so many of us, was influenced by Jay’s professional work. Not to pigeon-hole him, but the LaBerge and Samuels automaticity work was especially significant. I remember reading their Cognitive Psychology (1974) piece while a doc student at Wisconsin in the late 70s, and being influenced later by Jay’s 1979 The Reading Teacher applied piece on repeated reading in subsequent teaching and working with kids. His RT piece was a mainstay reading when teaching assessment/corrective/remedial reading classes while serving as Purdue Reading Clinic director for much of the 80s, and grad assistants and I taught and modeled a variety of repeated reading and other fluency activities based on Jay’s concepts when preparing tutors to work with clinic clients. The combination of cognitive and affective benefits from achieving automaticity contributed significantly to children’s reading growth through the clinic. Later, Jay contributed a chapter on writing for research-oriented journals to an IRA book Dale Johnson and I edited on writing for publication in the literacy field, and it was a pleasure to work him on it. Drawing from his own research and stewardship of RRQ while editing it with David Pearson, Jay’s chapter was useful in guiding my subsequent doc students toward academic research writing. Ken, Dorothy, Dolores, Lee, and now Jay (and others I may have forgotten?)—we’ve lost too many wondrous scholars recently.

James F Baumann
Chancellor’s Chair for Excellence in Literacy Education, Emeritus
University of Missouri

On Dec 16, 2020, at 1:09 PM, P Pearson <ppearson at berkeley.edu<mailto:ppearson at berkeley.edu>> wrote:

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Wonderful remembrance, Freddy!!!
David

On Wed, Dec 16, 2020 at 10:01 AM Elfrieda Hiebert <hiebert at textproject.org<mailto:hiebert at textproject.org>> wrote:
I was introduced to Jay Samuels’s work in my first months of graduate school.  To be a respectable, aspiring educational psychologist required one to have at least some fluency with automaticity theory!  Some years later, I worked up the courage to introduce myself to Jay at an International Reading Association meeting.  I don't remember the year but I do remember he was off on the side of a conference hall tending to his baby daughter.  The phenomenon of such a renowned scholar with a baby at a conference AND tending to it himself was remarkable.
In the early 2000s when I was in the early stages of my text analysis work, I got an unexpected letter from Jay.   I had submitted a chapter to the second edition of What research says about reading instruction that Jay edited with Alan Farstrup.  I had received a review of the chapter with suggested edits from Alan.  I was surprised and greatly encouraged when I got a letter from Jay commending me for the work and describing it as precisely the kind of research that was needed on text.  Jay's letter was the only unsolicited acknowledgement  of my research I had--and have--ever gotten.  When I read the tributes from Reading Hall of Fame members, I see that I am not the only one who benefited from his practice of sending kudos to colleagues.  This custom of congratulating colleagues who are not in my network on innovative and important work is one that I intend to emulate.
A decade after I received the letter from Jay, I had the chance to collaborate with him on a study and a series of papers.  The work pertained to basic science, student achievement, and instructional practice related to silent reading.  Jay was knowledgeable, curious, amenable to new ideas, and generous with his knowledge.  He was even open to my suggestions for edits!  This opportunity to collaborate with Jay remains a highlight of my career.
One of the characteristics I value most among colleagues is that they can laugh.  My sense of humor is an acquired taste and Jay was quick to pick up on it.  We shared many lovely dinners when we were both on an advisory board in the early 2010s.  A favorite story of staff and other advisors about Jay occurred after an advisory meeting when several of us were in the TSA line at the Burlingon, VT airport.  The airport is tiny and Jay’s interaction with a TSA agent was audible to all of us in line (and even those in the nearby waiting area).  Jay went to some length to persuade the TSA agent that a three-quarters full bottle of vodka was for medicinal purposes.  The TSA agent went home that evening with a three-quarters full bottle of vodka.  I was left with a memory that always brings a smile to my face.  My work and my life are both better having had Jay Samuels as a mentor, collaborator, and friend.
Elfrieda (Freddy) H. Hiebert
President/CEO, TextProject
Find me on Google Scholar,<https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=2AID3EsAAAAJ&hl=en> TextProject<http://textproject.org/>, and Academia.<https://independent.academia.edu/ElfriedaHiebert>

New blog: medium.com/@wordfindings<https://medium.com/@wordfindings>
Get a free chapter here.<http://textproject.org/library/text-matters/recycling-and-remixing/>
Order the book here.<https://www.tcpress.com/teaching-words-and-how-they-work-9780807763179>

<Teaching-word-cover.jpg>

On Dec 16, 2020, at 8:01 AM, P Pearson <ppearson at berkeley.edu<mailto:ppearson at berkeley.edu>> wrote:

I hate to say it, but I think that some combination of Rob Tierney, Mike Kamil, Dale Johnson and yours truly were the culprits. I think we thought Jay looked way overdressed for a poolside gathering and, as such, had earned the dunking.

pdp

On Wed, Dec 16, 2020 at 7:57 AM Cunningham, James William <jwcunnin at email.unc.edu<mailto:jwcunnin at email.unc.edu>> wrote:
Pat and I spent the summer of 1978 in Minneapolis thanks to P. David's invitation for us to teach at the university. We sublet a townhouse in the same complex where John Manning lived. I had read LaBerge & Samuels as a doc student and Jay's early work on repeated readings as a young assistant prof. Pat and I invited Jay to dinner at our townhouse and he came. It was a delightful evening of storytelling and shop talking. That is when we got to know him as the brilliant, funny, humble, nice person he was.
Jay had a lasting impact on my thinking. I definitely drank his automaticity Kool-Aid. My 1979 RT article, "Automatic Pilot for Decoding," was inspired by his work. And just so you know, automaticity (with its synonyms) is still a construct I believe our best quantitative research supports, so his work has had a great effect on me.
As for crazy Jay stories, I only remember one and it vaguely. Maybe someone can help me out. We are around the pool at the Don Cesar on a lovely day during NRC and Jay ends up in the pool, clothes and all, wallet and all. I can still see him walking back to his room to change with his wet wallet in his hand. What I don't remember is whether he was thrown in and, if so, by whom, or if he decided for some weird reason to jump in. Am I the only one who still remembers this?
Jim
________________________________
From: reading-hall-of-fame-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk<mailto:reading-hall-of-fame-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk> <reading-hall-of-fame-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk<mailto:reading-hall-of-fame-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk>> on behalf of P Pearson <ppearson at berkeley.edu<mailto:ppearson at berkeley.edu>>
Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2020 9:12 PM
To: Yetta Goodman <ygoodman at u.arizona.edu<mailto:ygoodman at u.arizona.edu>>
Cc: reading hall of fame <reading-hall-of-fame at lists.nottingham.ac.uk<mailto:reading-hall-of-fame at lists.nottingham.ac.uk>>
Subject: [Reading-hall-of-fame] Re: [EXT] Re: I just got this message this instant

For those of you who want to contact Jay's widow. Nancy Schermer, by snail mail, here's the address:
P. O. Box 20531, Fountain Hills, AZ 85269

This is Nancy's email address:
silkroadcamel at hotmail.com<mailto:silkroadcamel at hotmail.com>

You can also continue to add comments to this RHF strand.  I will gather them together on Wednesday morning and package them in an integrated response to her.  Deadline:  Noon on December 16 to be guaranteed that I can get them organized for delivery to Nancy.

David

________________________________

On Tue, Dec 15, 2020 at 11:20 AM P Pearson <ppearson at berkeley.edu<mailto:ppearson at berkeley.edu>> wrote:
I will ask Jay Blanchard if he has an address for Nancy Schermer, Jay's widow.. There will be an outdoor  burial service for Jay on Wednesday Dec 16 at 2PM at Mt Sinai Cemetery in north Scottsdale.  Nancy did share this thought in a text exchange with me.
"We do plan to use some crazy Jay stories for part of it. Anything you collect could be helpful." So if you want to submit any to me, I'll forward.
Jay Blanchard, who is attending and has been visiting Jay regularly since his stroke a few years ago, has agreed to read this short tribute on my behalf.

S. Jay Samuels: A Tribute

  *   Jay was my mentor.  He lived the values and warrants of rigorous and responsible scholarship and teaching.  He supported my entry into the field, connected me to other scholars and communities, and brokered friendships that have lasted a lifetime.
  *   Jay was my colleague. After I passed through the veil from student to peer, he accepted me as he continued to mentor me. We wrote together, presented together, edited together, and thought together.
  *   Jay was my comrade. We worked hard and played hard.  We ran the gamut from serious scholarly review and writing to delightfully frivolous escapades around the nation and even the world.
  *   Jay was my friend.  I will miss him but always remember him. I will honor his legacy to our understanding of this remarkable activity called reading and always keep a place in my heart to share a smile about the times we shared.

P. David Pearson
Berkeley CA
December 2020

On Tue, Dec 15, 2020 at 10:55 AM Yetta Goodman <ygoodman at u.arizona.edu<mailto:ygoodman at u.arizona.edu>> wrote:

I'm so sorry to hear of Jay's passing.  I wonder if there is a family address where we/I can send condolences?

The reading/literacy community has lost members this year who all leave important historical legacies for our field
to add to the rich literature on literacy learning and teaching.

Yetta Goodman

On Sat, Dec 12, 2020 at 11:58 AM P Pearson <ppearson at berkeley.edu<mailto:ppearson at berkeley.edu>> wrote:

External Email

Good to hear from both Joanna and Phil.  Thanks for remembering.
David

On Sat, Dec 12, 2020 at 10:44 AM Philip Gough <goughpb at gmail.com<mailto:goughpb at gmail.com>> wrote:
RIP

On Sat, Dec 12, 2020 at 10:40 AM Williams, Joanna <jwilliams at exchange.tc.columbia.edu<mailto:jwilliams at exchange.tc.columbia.edu>> wrote:
I am very much saddened to hear of Jay Samuels' death. Jay and I were good colleagues. Over the years we regularly found ourselves at the same meetings, speaking in the same sessions. In the 1960s we paired up to debate Ken Goodman and Frank Smith. In the late 1990s we were both on the National Reading Panel . We became fast friends.  Jay was a great scholar and an excellent teacher. His enthusiasm was inspiring. I will miss him.
     Joanna Williams

On Sat, Dec 12, 2020 at 12:44 PM P Pearson <ppearson at berkeley.edu<mailto:ppearson at berkeley.edu>> wrote:
From Jay Blanchard, who lives in the Phoenix area and has visited Jay with some regularity].

Jay Samuels passed this AM of COVID.
I am saddened by this development, especially with COVID as the proximal cause. As many of you know, Jay, along with RHF members Bob Dykstra and John Manning, was an influential mentor for me when I was at Minnesota as a grad student and a new professor.  I have such vivid memories of so many things Jay did and said.

Haunting (in both an eerie and a very sweet sense) that Jay died on the very day when many are memorializing the contributions of Ken Goodman.  Although Jay and Ken help what many of us thought were diametrically opposing views of early reading development and pedagogy, the two shared an alma mater (both got their doctorates at UCLA) and an abiding respect for the contributions of the other to the study of reading processes and pedagogies.

David
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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
P. David Pearson
Evelyn Lois Corey Emeritus Professor of Instructional Science
Graduate School of Education
University of California, Berkeley

email:  ppearson at berkeley.edu<mailto:ppearson at berkeley.edu>
other e-mail:  pdavidpearsondean at gmail.com<mailto:pdavidpearsondean at gmail.com>
website for publications:  www.pdavidpearson.org<http://www.pdavidpearson.org/>
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