In Memoriam: Stephen Lowell Tanner
Dies war der Beginn einer freundschaftlichen Beziehung, die sich den nächsten Jahren vertiefte. Ich traf Stephen in der Folge jedes Mal, wenn er damals in Deutschland an Tagungen der GASW teilnahm, wir plauderten am Rande dieser Konferenzen auch über Privates, wir sangen gemeinsam alte Western Songs (ich schlecht, er gut) und ich lernte viel von ihm über Western im Allgemeinen und im Besonderen über Ernest Haycox - hier war er weltweit die Autorität.
Seine zahlreichen wissenschaftlichen Veröffentlichungen zeigen ihn als sorgfältigen, enorm kenntnisreichen und akribisch arbeitenden Literaturwissenschaftler. Er war aber auch ein Sammler von Büchern jeglicher Art. Seine früh erworbenen Deutschkenntnisse beruhten u. a. auf der Lektüre deutscher Unterhaltungsromane, die in Zeitschriftenläden in seiner amerikanischen Heimat erhältlich waren.
Ich erinnere mich daran, ihm einst zwei deutsche Bücher von Stephen Tanner geschenkt zu haben, die er nicht selbst geschrieben hatte. Das Erstaunen in seinem Gesicht habe ich noch vor Augen - die Romane nannten auf dem Titel zwar seinen Namen, es handelte sich hierbei aber um ein Pseudonym von Rudolf Demeter Habisreutinger, der diesen Namen für seine Westernveröffentlichungen genutzt hatte. -
Stephen, auch wenn ich erst vor kurzem erfahren, dass du uns schon vor mehr als zwei Jahren verlassen hast, ich vermisse dich, unsere anregenden Unterhaltungen und vor allem auch deinen Humor.
Karl Jürgen Roth
"Stephen Lowell Tanner died from kidney failure May 5, 2023. Born April 18, 1938, he was the sixth of seven children of Nathan Russell and Dorothy Woods Tanner. He graduated from Ogden High School and then from the University of Utah with B.A. and M.A. degrees. He was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity.He married Madlyn Gillespie in the Salt Lake Temple August 18, 1961. They raised three children—Elizabeth, Charlotte, and Stephen—and lived in Wisconsin, Idaho, Brazil, Portugal, London and Utah.Steve earned his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and began a life of teaching and scholarly research. His first job was at the University of Idaho-Moscow and he was then recruited to Brigham Young University where he was an English professor for 28 years.While at BYU he received many awards, including the P.A. Christensen Lectureship, Phi Kappa Phi Scholar Award, the Karl G. Maeser Distinguished Faculty Lectureship, the Ralph A. Britsch Humanities Professorship, and the national Lionel Trilling Award.His profession allowed him to travel to many places to present scholarly papers at conferences in Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Paraguay, Spain, and within the United States. He is the author of more than 200 articles and four books: Ken Kesey, Ernest Haycox, Paul Elmer More, and Lionel Trilling.Steve was a member of the Hemingway and Fitzgerald societies, the Zane Grey Society, the Emily Dickinson International Society, and the German Association for the Study of the Western. He was a senior Fulbright Scholar three times in Brazil and once in Portugal. He was a faculty director on two BYU study abroad programs in London.As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he served a mission in the Northern States. He also served as a bishop, a high council member, and as a branch president at the Provo MTC for the Portuguese-speaking branch. He and his wife served for several years in the Provo area Special Needs Activities Program.Dubbed a Renaissance man by his family, Steve appreciated fine art, good music, and books from all genres. Until his death he was reading books in German and Portuguese. He was an avid fly fisherman who created his own flies to tempt the fish in the Madison River. His family will miss his sense of humor, his Steve’s Specials meals, and his harmonica playing." (Source: https://nelsonmortuary.com/obituaries/stephen-tanner)
Ich verlinke hier noch Ted R. Walchs Artikel über Stephen Tanner aus dem Jahr 2005: (https://magazine.byu.edu/article/reading-for-truth/)
