Virginia Loses A Gentleman

I recently learned that Dr. Marshall W. Fishwick passed away this past May. I only discovered Professor Fishwick’s writings a few years ago, but had grown to love his style, keen insight into popular culture and history, and his ability to cut through the noise of our age and see and explain things as they really are. I first learned of him when I read his wonderful book, Gentlemen of Virginia. I recently purchased, and am now reading, Lee After the War. Some giants are quiet. Few people today know who Marshall Fishwick is, but his impact on America will linger for many years. A brilliant scholar and writer, he taught the legendary journalist and novelist, Tom Wolfe, at Washington & Lee University and was instrumental in getting Wolfe admitted to Yale.

The author of more than 20 books, Fishwick also founded the journal International Popular Culture, and was co-founder of the Popular Culture Association. Dr. Fishwick was one of a dying breed: a true Virginia Gentleman and scholar who was never infected with political correctness, though he made his living in academia. Coming from a family that has produced missionaries, adventurers, and other "manly" men, Fishwick is one of the few men to have lived in the 21st century who would have felt comfortable in the presence of fellow Episcopalian, Robert E. Lee. One of Fishwick's admirers wrote of him:

“I cherish my ‘Marshall files.’ I marvel at the energy of this man, his enthusiasm, his generosity of spirit, his joie de vivre. I can’t imagine his life contained many dull moments. He was too busy writing, teaching, conversing, LIVING! He touched my life in a special way and I counted him as a friend, albeit one I never met in person. Marshall was a Virginian, an old-school, Southern gentleman akin to his heroes Robert E. Lee and Thomas Jefferson, and as a World War II veteran, a member of The Greatest Generation. Marshall, I am sure, is in his new world conversing with Bobby Lee and Tom Jefferson, but most of all with his pop culture icon and namesake, Marshall McLuhan, and who knows? Maybe even Cicero.”

Dr. Fishwick was professor emeritus in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences at Virginia Tech and retired in 2003. I highly recommend his writings and books. For a sample of his intellect and perspective, click here.