Twain scholar receives Tuckey Lifetime Achievement Award

"Samuel Clemens, I am certain,
would have liked Tom Quirk for
his personality as much as for
his literary insight."

- Professor Emeritus Louis J. Budd

Tom Quirk, professor, Department of English, was awarded the John S. Tuckey Lifetime Achievement Award for Contributions to Mark Twain Scholarship on August 9, 2009, at The Sixth International Conference on the State of Mark Twain Studies. This honor has been awarded only twice previously – in 1991 and 2005 – and Quirk was completely taken by surprise when his name was announced.

"It is such an honor to be recognized by this special circle of scholars and lovers of Mark Twain," says Quirk.

One of Quirk's closest friends, Louis J. Budd, professor emeritus from Duke University, presented him with the award based on his work as a Twainian throughout the years and his contributions to the Elmira Center for Mark Twain Studies.

Shortly after Quirk joined MU's English department 30 years ago, the resident Twainian retired, and Quirk thought it inconceivable that no one was teaching or working on Mark Twain's work at the flagship university in Samuel Clemens's home state of Missouri. Hence, his passion for Twain began – he has published seven books about Twain. Since 2002 he has edited the Mark Twain and His Circle series of books published by the University of Missouri Press and has been a scholar-in-residence at the Elmira Center. The Circle series incorporates books on Mark Twain and the several circles he inhabited – domestic, political, artistic, and others – and provides a venue for new research in Twain studies.

When Budd presented the award, he said, "Samuel Clemens, I am certain, would have liked Tom Quirk for his personality as much as for his literary insight."

by Laura Lindsey
College of Arts and Science

Links

Tom Quirk
Department of English

The Sixth International Conference on the State of Mark Twain Studies

Mark Twain and His Circle series