Media

June 7, 1937–July 28, 2012

Dear Marie,

It is with great sadness that I learned of Lou's passing, and I offer my deepest condolences to you and to all the members of Lou's family. You and Lou became such valued fixtures in the lives of so many people in the classical profession over the past thirty-five years that it is impossible to conceive of a world without Lou. I sincerely hope and expect that you will have the courage to continue the impressive and indispensable work that the two of you carried on all these years. Lou will remain in my thoughts for the rest of my life as a friend and supporter. Well do I remember Lou's willingness to publish some of my early work at a time when both he and I were embarking on our careers. During my years developing the Master of Arts in Teaching Latin and Classical Humanities program at UMass, I constantly urged our students to expand the breadth of Latin authors that they could teach in their Latin classrooms, and it would not have been possible for them to do this without the steady stream of textbooks coming from Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers. The two of you did as much as anyone to arrest the catastrophic decline of Latin enrollments that took place in the 1960's and to promote the resurgence of Latin in the 70's and beyond. Without the two of you, the profession would not be where it is today. It was always such a pleasure to see both of you at professional meetings. All who attend such meetings will be saddened not to see Lou, but they will be heartened if they see his and your great work continuing.

Few can match Lou's service to Classics. We are all beholden to him for providing such a splendid variety of texts and materials to students and teachers at all levels.

The classical world has lost a giant! Lou was a wonderful advocate for Classics and a true friend. We will miss him greatly.

Through his publications and professional activities Lou has given us a legacy aere perennius.

Only a few months ago at the American Philological Association's meeting in Philadelphia I said to a friend, "If anyone deserves the APA's award for service to the profession, Lou does." He did, and the textbooks that he provoked, published, and promoted will continue his legacy for years—but I will remember the sheer pleasure of talking with him, and the delightful challenge of trying to figure out where the conversation would go next.

Dear Marie and Allan,

On behalf of members of the American Classical League, I want to extend to you our condolences and let you know that you will be in our prayers. The Bolchazy family has been for many years a cherished member of the ACL family, and Lou's passing diminishes us all. Inter nos non omnis morietur.

I was sorry to hear of the death this great classicist, man, publisher, and friend.

If you've been to a classics conference of any sort, you have probably met the man. This man was so full of life, a delightful flirt, and the publisher of classics texts. Many of his books crowd my bookshelf. Latin teachers have lost a supporter and a friend.

Lou has had a tremendous influence on Latin and Classical studies through his publications: promoting a new generation of authors (many of whom are on this list), and keeping many other publications in print for the next generation of students/scholars. His jovial presence at conferences was truly memorable, and he will be dearly missed.

Jann and I met him at the 2010 Institute at Wake Forest U, and were overwhelmed by his generous, always encouraging, enthusiastic and truly larger-than-life character. I hope that Marie and Allan will continue to carry the wonderful flag of Bolchazy-Carducci, but Lou will be sadly and genuinely missed by every classicist.

What a loss for us all.

Lou was an extraordinary individual—of heroic energy and vision—and we shall not see his like again.

It's impossible to imagine the APA meeting or indeed the world of Classics without him. Lou was a visionary and even in more recent times when others began trying to serve the same publishing market, Lou's contribution was unique. He will be sorely missed by all of us.

Dear Marie,

It was with a great shock of sadness that I learned of Lou's sudden passing. I dedicated my colloquium at NJCL on Friday to his memory. You have both been great colleagues to me and to many, and have done immeasurable good for our profession. The memory of our annual encounters will live on.

Lou was a giant in so many ways—truly a visionary who loved the classics and did great work on their behalf.

He will be missed greatly by all of us, but especially by those of us who have published our work with him and who have worked closely with him. As a fellow Slovak, I feel that I have lost a brother.

Dear Marie and Allan,

I am incredibly sad about Lou's passing.

He was a man who meant a great deal to me on many levels. He was such an encouraging and positive person—demanding of his authors but always fair and clear in his expectations.

All of us will carry our own impressions of him but I am sure that all of us who grieve his departure from our lives will recall his wonderful love of life and people. He was a humanist, a philologist—a person who was committed to the principle that knowledge must inform understanding. His willingness to publish whatever would promote worthwhile travel on that Classical journey was unrivalled as the breadth and depth of the company he built so clearly exemplifies.

We will miss him dearly and you both be sustained by the warmth of the love which he engendered.

I don't know how many classicists know that Lou had a Ph D in classics and served as a classics professor at Loyola University Chicago and also at Millersville State University in PA. He also wrote a book "Hospitality in Antiquity," gave a number of papers at conferences, and developed a radio series on myth ("Myth Is Truth," 14 programs in comparative mythology broadcast by Loyola University and Triton College.) Furthermore, he was the co-founder and co-editor of the Ancient World (1978-1991) and the editor of the Classical Bulletin (1991-2008), two scholarly journals. He received the first ever Illinois Classical Conference Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.

I've known Lou and Marie for 30 or so years, and was fortunate to speak with Lou by phone just over a week ago: even then, when he knew his end was near, he was chipper, jovial even, rejoicing in the wonderful life he'd been blessed with, his loving family, his friendships—which were myriad. I've known few men as kind, as endlessly good-humored, and not a single publisher whose contributions to the classical language teaching profession were so abundant and so wide-ranging. We are all the better for his publishing efforts and successes, and there is no doubt that his unparalleled legacy will endure for years and decades to come.

Lou's vision, his dedication to others and to our profession, and his sense of humor will be missed. He loved Cicero's writings and his humanism, and Cicero's words come readily to mind now for Lou: vita mortuorum in memoria est posita vivorum. We will remember for a long time.

So sorry to hear about Lou. He was always kind and encouraging — and I am proud that he was able to write the Foreword to De Senectute. His contribution to the survival of the classics is a great thing, and his legacy will endure.

He (Lou) was a truly special individual with the warmest heart and he had a marvellous vision for the role of classics in the modern world. I am thrilled to have got to know him over these past few years. He will leave a huge void in many people's lives.

Lou is quite simply, irreplaceable. Such personality, such passion.

Lou's passing is a great loss to the classical community, but also to education in general. I shall miss him greatly.

Lou was one of those people who could make things happen, but never lost sight of why he was doing it, and the human dimension. He was a challenging conversationalist who could blow away the small talk with a phrase or a question, and move the discourse to a higher and more demanding level. Sometimes that was uncomfortable; it was always respectful and ultimately enriching.

It was a privilege to have known him even as little as I did. We have indeed lost a good friend for classics in this country, but should take that as just one more reason to carry on his work.

He was such a wonderful person, a sweet, affable guy and a mensch at the same time. I am so glad that I was able to spend quality time with him when we were in Las Vegas. You know, of course, that Lou was well loved and will be deeply missed.

Dear Marie,

We can only imagine your grief in losing your dearest life companion, who was such a force of nature and whose heart was so expansive. I will never forget his generosity and support and it was one of the greatest privileges and delights of my life to come to know and even collaborate on many occasions with him and with you on projects in which we believed. The Classics, and the beauty and wisdom they carry with them through time, surely count him among their special sponsors and friends. It is rare for publishing to be not just a profession but also a calling, but it was manifestly that for Lou, who was a profound partisan and teacher. I will never forget his, and your, gracious trust and friendship. Perhaps most men my age, especially academics, "grow out" of heroes, but that will never be the case with me and the reverence I have for Lou. I count myself so blessed to have known him. Betsy and I send to you our deepest sympathy and our love. For years now we have been lighting a candle before dinner to keep in our hearts those special friends and family who are in struggle or who pass from us, and we have placed a picture of Lou and you there with the candle and will be lighting it each evening, keeping you in our hearts, and sending our special prayers and support — with love to you and your family.

Dear Marie,

Can't believe that Lou is gone! During the past month the two of you were models of courage, good humor, an optimism. Thank you for that lesson in how to face death gracefully. All day long I've been thinking about Bolchazy-Carducci—both family and the firm—and reflecting on the wonderful legacy you and Lou have left for the whole field of Classics (not to mention Slovak studies). I hope it gave Lou comfort in his last days to realize how much he has accomplished and how many of his dreams (shared by you) have come true. Not many people can say that their work has enriched the lives of hundreds of thousands of students, teachers, and general readers! It must have made Lou happy to know that he was leaving the company in such strong shape.

We at CAES are deeply saddened by the passing of Lou. No one was a more passionate advocate of The Classics or a more loyal and devoted supporter and friend of CAES. He will be sorely missed.

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