[Reading-hall-of-fame] Re: Query

[Shanahan, Timothy E]

Norm--

I like the idea of having a designation for those who have been selected for membership in the RHF but who themselves didn’t assent to that membership. I think that is the most respectful approach as it both conveys our admiration for their contributions but recognizes that if the honor had come during their lifetime they may have chosen for any number of reasons not to affiliate. In other words, the separate designation means that they are as admired as any living members (it isn’t an asterisk that designates some shortcoming or separateness on their part) but only that they did not have the opportunity to make the choice of membership themselves.

tim


Timothy Shanahan.
Distinguished Professor Emeritus
University of Illinois at Chicago
shanahan at uic.edu

60 E Monroe St., #6001
Chicago, IL 60603-2760
(312) 933-2835
www.shanahanonliteracy.com<http://www.shanahanonliteracy.com>




From: reading-hall-of-fame-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk <reading-hall-of-fame-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk> on behalf of Norman Stahl <flowercjs at aol.com>
Date: Friday, May 20, 2022 at 2:40 PM
To: reading-hall-of-fame at lists.nottingham.ac.uk <reading-hall-of-fame at lists.nottingham.ac.uk>
Subject: [Reading-hall-of-fame] Query
Folks

As you likely know there is a small group within the Reading Hall of Fame known as the Pioneers. These 16 individuals were given posthumous membership by the "founders" of the organization. From then on into the future they were to be known as the Pioneers. Across the years each individual has had a homepage and next to each individuals name there was an * denoting the status as a Pioneer. These homepages were kept within the RHF www site's Section for Deceased members.

As the organization aged so did the membership and given such, we have lost colleagues along the way.  The section for deceased members has grown, and the Pioneers were lost within the section. Hence, to remedy this situation we have created a third classification in the Membership section specifically for the Pioneers. That is information for you that might be useful if you use such information with your classes.

Now we need your wise counsel. The Deceased classification now contains two groups of individuals. Group 1 is comprised of  those individuals like you who were elected to membership while still standing above the roses (I really know of no kind way to say it.), but unlike you they are no longer with us. Group 2 is comprised of individuals who were elected as posthumous members. At this time the Deceased section is comprised of both groups (integrated together).

It appears from undertaking some digging in records that the early RHF leaders thought that the individuals elected posthumously should be considered Honorary members. This classification exists as an option in the backend of the web site, yet the title has never been used.

So here is the first question... If you have been a member of the RHF for a long enough period to know of the thoughts of the founding generation on this topic, might you share your/their perspective? Why has the classification never been used in an explicit manner?

A second question is (which has importance as the By Laws are updated for your review)... should this classification be included in the membership subsection in the By Laws revision? In other words, are those who have been elected posthumously to be classified as Honorary and listed within a separate section under membership? At this time the only way to determine past election status is by reviewing the minutes of the organization from across the years. (This issue has only come up as a question once in the past five years.)

There are pros and cons in moving in either direction (ie, using the historical classification or maintaining the status quo of a unified classification). Let's hear what the membership has to say.

Thanks for your attention...

Norm
Norman Stahl
flowercjs at aol.com
https://www.readinghalloffame.org/node/658





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