William “Bill” Robert Duffy, beloved teacher of literature to three generations of students at the Francis W. Parker School, died of natural causes in late January. He was 58. A lifelong teacher at the college and secondary levels, Mr. Duffy came to the Francis W. Parker School in 1975 after completing his Ph.D. in English at the University of Chicago. His dissertation concerned the connection of Graham Greene’s “serious” novels to the works Greene called “entertainments.” The premise of Bill’s teaching career extended that idea to a conviction that even the most serious of texts must entertain to be great literature. In his teaching practice it confirmed him as a guide who directed students toward the pleasure and joy–even humor–in tackling the most difficult and serious of ideas. Bill grew up outside of Philadelphia. He was the youngest of five brothers and one sister. He described his family as “very Catholic – a fact extremely important in my personal and intellectual development.” He attended “old-fashioned, extremely strict” Roman Catholic schools. In high school he “developed a fascination with words” and, by his senior year, with literature because of “a great English teacher.” After completing high school, he entered an Augustinian monastery to pursue ordination to the priesthood. By the fourth year, Bill and his advisors concluded that he wasn’t happy with monastic life and needed to leave the monastery to pursue a life of greater independence. After leaving the monastery, Bill focused on school, graduating Summa Cum Laude from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. He arrived in Chicago in 1967 to begin graduate studies in English at the University of Chicago. Before joining the faculty at Francis Parker, Bill taught at several Chicago area schools: Loyola Academy, Lake Forest College, New Trier East High School and the Illinois Institute of Technology. Besides the enduring effect of his Roman Catholic education, Bill’s exposure to self psychology through his psychoanalysis provided him with a perspective that comprehensively shaped his view of himself and others. Self psychology’s emphasis on the centrality of empathy in healthy growth was consistent with Bill’s intuitive sense that accurately understanding the psychic reality of his students was essential for effective teaching. In his teaching self psychology informed both his literary criticism and his teaching technique. Bill loved literature, and he loved teaching-especially young people. He was an intense, empathic teacher who created an atmosphere of trust and respect in his classroom. He demanded excellence from his students, and he strove to help them find the ways in which they might achieve that goal. Among Bill’s many admired courses, Twentieth Century British Literature introduced two generations of students to the great works of (notably Irish) modernism. In the middle of his career, Bill spent part of a sabbatical year in Ireland, and the experience only served to increase his love of Joyce and Yeats. Bill wore his learning with grace and modesty. He inspired his students to grasp and to understand the most challenging poetry and fiction they had ever read. He enlivened the course of literary study with many connections to other media, especially film. Bill took his work with literature and students seriously, but he always made sure that he and his students were enjoying their work. His mother, Catherine Duffy, is 96 years of age and still lives on her own in Collingdale, PA, maintaining a very active mind. Two of Bill’s siblings survive him, his brother, Michael Duffy of Hull, MA and his sister, Lillian Reinegal of Ocean City, NJ; multiple nieces, nephews, colleagues and friends survive Bill. A Memorial Service for Bill Duffy will be held Saturday, March 9, 2002 at 4 p.m. in the Holabird Auditorium at the Francis W. Parker School, 330 West Webster Avenue in Chicago. Contributions to the William Duffy Scholarship Fund c/o Francis Parker School.
