A Room for Anita Moss — Shortly after Anita Moss’s passing, I contacted the leadership of the Children’s Literature Association and shared with them the sad news about Anita. I knew that Anita had been a very active member of the Children’s Literature Association during the late 1970s and ’80s, and I was sure that the current leadership of the Association would want to know that Anita had died. The chair of the 2018 Conference Planning Committee and I exchanged several emails about Anita, and she informed me that she was going to do something to commemorate and celebrate Anita during the 2018 Children’s Literature Association Conference, but she did not tell me exactly what she was planning to do.
Just before Balaka Basu, Ralf Thiede, and I left for San Antonio last week to attend the conference, we were sent an electronic copy of the conference program, and we all noticed that one of the meeting rooms was named the Anita Moss Room. The conference planners not only named one of the rooms for Anita, but they also provided an official sign and a poster listing some of her accomplishments. Throughout the conference, children’s literature specialists gathered in this room to share their research and discuss children’s books. I cannot think of a more fitting way to remember Anita and her many contributions to the field of children’s literature studies.
One of my last conversations with Anita was about the Children’s Literature Association Conference. She informed me that she had a paper accepted for presentation at this conference, and she said that she was looking forward to attending the conference along with her daughter Pamela Hausle. Anita was not able to present her paper or attend the conference in a physical sense, but in a non-corporal way, she very much was a presence at this year’s Children’s Literature Association Conference.
Kudos — As you know, I like to use my Monday Missives to share news about recent accomplishments by members of the English Department. Here is the latest news:
Balaka Basu recently presented a paper titled “Death in the Water: Queer Drowned Creatures in L. M. Montgomery, Madeleine L’Engle, and Susan Cooper” at the Children’s Literature Association Conference, which took place in San Antonio, Texas.
Liz Miller recently presented a paper titled “Crossing Temporal Borders: Language Teachers’ Reflections on Past “Critical Incidents” in Constructing Professional Identities and Gaining Emotional Competence” at the Sociolinguistics Symposium held in Auckland, New Zealand.
Becky Roeder recently gave a poster presentation titled “Best Practices in Automatic Vowel Production Analysis” at the Sociolinguistics Symposium held in Auckland, New Zealand.
Matthew Rowney recently had an article titled “Preserver and Destroyer: Salt in The History of Mary Prince” published in European Romantic Review.
Ralf Thiede recently presented a paper titled “Turbulent Waters at William R. Scott: The Bizarre Tale of Cottontails” at the Children’s Literature Association Conference, which took place in San Antonio, Texas.
Quirky Quiz Question — This year’s Children’s Literature Association Conference took place in San Antonio, Texas. San Antonio is also the location of a famous Catholic mission and fortress compound that is now a World Heritage Site. What is the name of this site?