Dr. Malcolm A. “Mac” Nelson

Malcolm A. “Mac” Nelson, Ph.D., of Brocton NY, passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday, December 25, 2018, at Brooks Memorial Hospital. Mac was born May 29, 1934, to the late Harold Lawrence Nelson and Ruth Hutton Schlenker, and grew up in Chicago, IL. He graduated summa cum laude from Williams College, MA in 1955, and earned his Ph.D. at Northwestern University. He taught at Grinnell College in Iowa, and Miami University of Ohio before arriving as Associate Professor of English at SUNY Fredonia in 1968. He spent a long and illustrious career teaching Shakespeare, Renaissance Literature, and World Poetry. He retired in 2007 as Distinguished

Teaching Professor of English. In 1973 he was named “Outstanding Educator of the Year” by a national award program, and in 1974 the Danforth Foundation named him a Danforth Associate. He received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1975. Mac was a strong union advocate and a key organizer of the Fredonia Chapter of United University Professions (UUP). He served as Chapter President for many years, as well as a local delegate representing Fredonia at statewide delegate assemblies in Albany. He was also a long-time member of the Dunkirk area AFL-CIO. Some of Mac’s deep interests are reflected in the titles of his books. Twenty West: The Great Road Across America was about the highway he lived on in Brocton from 1977. Epitaph and Icon: A Field Guide to the Old Burial Grounds of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket (co-authored with Diana Hume George) reflected his love for Cape

Cod. Telling the Stories: Essays on American Indian Literature and Cultures (co-authored with Elizabeth Hoffman) concerned his appreciation of Native American culture. He also published A Collection of Catches, Canons and Glees and The Robin Hood Tradition in the English Renaissance as well as several articles and essays. Mac’s areas of interest and expertise were multiple. They included music, travel, bird watching, and astronomy. He especially

enjoyed reading the works of P.G. Wodehouse, and playing cribbage and acrostics with his longtime companion, Joyce Haines of Fredonia. Music was a big part of his life. Wherever he

went, he organized and led a vocal group called The Catch Club, which met once a month to sing

catches, canons and glees mostly from the 17th century. He travelled to many national parks and monuments. He and his partner Joyce often spent time in Key Colony Beach in the

Florida Keys, on Cape Cod, and in Mac’s beloved Yellowstone National Park. He was an avid fan of the Chi-cago Cubs, the Chicago Bears, and the English soccer club the Tottenham Hotspurs. One of his former Fredonia colleagues wrote that “Mac Nelson was a force of nature, a

man who lived life to the fullest and with great gusto.” Mac spent his final years

sharing his home with the family of Ted and Jane Sharon of Brocton and their two daughters Charlotte and Sophie, who all called him “Pop.” He was preceded in death by his wife Jeanne Herbst Nelson. He is survived by his partner and companion Joyce Haines; his children

Michael, David, Laurie, Julie; Bernard A. George; and several grandchildren. He will be missed by his many former students, his close friends, his Catch Club, and the SUNY Fredonia community. There are no immediate services, as Mac requested his body be donated to the

UB Medical School. In an essay entitled Death in December, Mac wrote that “when I go, I hope my friends will sing and dance.” A Catch Club meeting will be held in the spring on a date to be determined. Friends and community members will be welcome to sing, listen, and dance.