Today’s newspaper brought news of the death of Harrison Meserole, a stalwart early Americanist and superb student of New England literature and culture, beloved mentor of many early Americanists practicing in the field today, and renowned bibliographer whose work proved the backbone of what we now know as the MLA Bibliography. Harry was my predecessor at Penn State, where colleagues often told wonderful “days of Harry” stories to my delight, when I first arrived to State College. He and his wife, Dorothy Roman Meserole, raised prize-winning orchids in their State College home. Harry retired from Penn State and took a teaching position at Texas A & M, where he finished his professorial career.

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